Wolves always find their way home
by Mattiewritesrandomthings
Summary: It's been two years since May left. She has no memory of her life before those two years, and only knows her mission. Find Erak in Arrida and take him to Maashava. Fourth in my fox series. The fox in the snow, The tale of a traveling fox, A fox among wolves.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello my lovely readers. Here we are at the fourth story in my fox serie. Here's chapter one for you, and I will upload chapter two in a few minutes. Like I said this is the fourth story, so if there are any new readers, please read the first three before you read this one. things will make a lot more sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rangers Apprentice. I wish I did, but yet again I don't.**

Wolves always find their way home.

* * *

Chapter 1.

The wedding was a happy occasion to many. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits. Everyone seemed to be happy. Even Halt smiled every once in a while. What no one expected is the sad and lonely looks of another ranger. One that usuall was the happiest of everyone. But he hasn't been the same since that day two years ago.

"Gilan did you know that we'd have to dance?" Will asked him. Gilan snappad out of his thoughts and focused on the younger ranger.

"Yes, I did." He answered shortly.

"Oh cheer up, stop sulking. This isn't you Gil." Will commented. "It's been over two years. Would it kill you if you have some fun?"

"I guess not. I just can't forget. It's stupid, you're right. I'm not usually like this, it's just... Yeah, I'll cheer up." Gilan said faking a smile. Will could see through it, but he didn't mention it. Instead he took Alyss to dance. After Halt and Pauline did of course. Not much later, Gilan and Jenny joined them.

"So what's her name?" Jenny asked her dancepartner.

"Excuse me?" Gilan asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"What's her name, of the girl who left you two years ago." Jenny asked sweetly.

"May. Her name was May. She was in Hallasholm with Cassandra and Will. She changed there, and ran away. She said that it was to keep me safe from her." Gilan admitted after a while. "It's my fault she left." He added in a whisper.

"How can you say that? I don't see you could have done that." Jenny said to him with a sweet smile.

"We had a fight, earlier that day. I have no idea why I am telling you all of this, but I don't see why not." He said back. Before he could say anything else, a rather large man entered the room. Will noticed him and signalled Gilan to keep dancing. He nodded and turned his attention back to Jenny.

"Don't worry, Will's got this." He said to her. "I pushed her to tell me what was going on, and she snapped. She left the same night. All she left was a letter."

"That seems kind of rude." Jenny commented. "And a bit dramatic, don't you think?"

"That's the problem. I completely understand why she left. She lived through a lot there in Hallasholm. And before that. She was losing her mind, and she couldn't take it anymore. She barely slept. I would always find her, or training, or in the stables with her horse." Jenny gave him a look when he mentioned the horse, but he just shrugged it off.

"If it's any consolation, I think you're a great guy, and that May is a fool to give up on you." She smiled sweetly, and moments later the music stopped. Crowley, Halt, Cassandra and the king all left after Will, Crowley signalling Gilan to come too.

"I've got to go. Thank you Jenny." Gilan said.

"For what?" She said back.

"A lovely dance and a nice conversation." Gilan smiled at her. An actual genuine smile. Before he turned around and followed the others.

* * *

When he got there, he found an empty platter of food, a large man who probably was a skandian, Will, Horace, Cassandra, Halt, King Duncan and Crowley.

"Someone was hungry." Gilan commented.

"Look who's back! Gil, I like that you finally cheered up, but the timing could use some work. Erak has been captured. Svengal here just told us." Will said to the tall ranger.

"What exactly happened?" Duncan asked the skandian, whose name was Svengal appearantly.

Svengal began to explain everything for a second time. How Erak was bored, and how he wanted one last Raid. They went to Arrida, and got ambushed there. Someone had information from the inside, at least that's what Erak thinks. That's why he was send to Auraluen, istead of Skandia. When he finally completed his story he ended with a complain on Horses.

"There's one thing bugging me." Duncan said to the large Skandian. "Why was he betrayed? I thought he was popular there."

"Aye, that's true. But he's popular with the majority of the people, not everyone of them. They're a smal faction. Small but vocal." Svengal explained. "We believe their leader's name is Toshak."

"That might be the reason Erak send you here instead of Hallasholm. They would speak loud, and decide it might be cheaper to just choose a new Oberjarl. It's a lot of money they're asking." Crowley said.

"We can lend Erak the money, can't we dad?" Cassandra asked her father. King Duncan looked doubtful. Eighty thousand reels was a lot.

"I can assure you Erak is worth that." Halt said to his old friend.

"Yes, yes I believe it is. And the actual amount would be less, the Arridi would be offended if we didn't try to lower it." He told himself more than others.

"I owe Erak my life father. He saved me twice to be exact. He got Will away so he could be better, and he searched nearly day and night for May when she was missing." Gilan winced a little at her name, but hid it so no one saw it. Luckily they didn't.

"I will pay the money Cassie, don't worry. It's how we get it there I'm worried about." He told his daughter. "If I pay them in coins, there would be a large amount of money on one ship. It could get lost, or even raided."

"We can use the silasian council your majesty." Will said after a short silence.

"Yes of course! But someone would have to go down there. They didn't sign the Silasian agreements, so they would have to make a cash delivery. We need someone down there to make them agree to our terms, and let the council make the payment." Duncan said.

"I can do that." Halt immediatly spoke up.

"No you can't." Crowley interrupted. "There's a protocol. It's a deal about a country leader, so one of royal rank will have to go. King Duncan should go myself, but he can't right now. If he doesn't organize the peace talks between the six Hibernian kings, it could end badly."

"Thank you Crowley." Duncan replied dryly.

"Then tell them I't your long lost cousin, and give me the seal." Halt said.

"DId you ever tell Halt how the civillized world works Crowley?" Duncan asked him.

"Yes, I have. He's just a very stubborn mind." The ranger said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Cassandra muttered.

"The royal seal can only be used by a member of the royal family, as you know, Halt," said

Duncan. "If you were to use it, any negotiations you carried out, and any agreements

you reached, would be fraudulent and therefore void. If that were exposed, it would take years for Araluen to regain the trust of other countries. We can't risk that." Halt snorted, but didn't push it any further.

"I can go." Cassandra said. The room went silent, you could hear a pin drop.

"Absolutely not." Duncan said after the silence.

"Why, why not. We, the royal family of Auraluen, owe him a debt. This is exactly what we were talking about a few weeks ago. One day I will become queen, and if I don't take on some responsibilities, I won't be prepared to be a queen you can be proud of." Cassandra argued.

"No you cannot go. That's final." Duncan said back.

"No that's not final. Dad, I owe Erak my life. It's my right to do something back for him." SHe said to him.

"The problem, Cassandra, is that you're-"

"A girl." Cassandra filled in for him.

"No that's not what I was going to say. I was saying, that you're inexperienced and young. You've never carried out negostiations like these" Duncan said in a calm voice.

"Then Halt can come with me." Cassandra said. "He can advise me on this, right?"

"Of course I would go." Halt shrugged. Duncan gave him a half hearted glare. Gilan tuned out of the rest of the arguements, until they where ordered to leave. His mind had been elsewhere since the mention of her name. He pulled up his hood as soon as they where outside of the room.

* * *

"What do you think happens in there?" Will asked him. Gilan shrugged.

"Don't know. I sort of dozed off in my mind. Who's he talking to?" He asked.

"Lady Pauline. The guests have already left. She joined us an hour ago. You didn't notice?" Will asked him. Again Gilan shrugged.

A few minutes later, they where all let in again. Gilan took his old position. Against the wall, half in the shadows. Nearly invisible.

"I've decided. Cassandra will carry out the negotiations with the Arridi." Duncan began. There was a quick intake of breath from his daughter, then she hurriedly rearranged her features, on the chance that he might change his mind. He glanced at her and nodded. Then he fixed his gaze straight in front of him again.

"Halt, you'll go with her as her chief adviser. Help her in the negotiations and protect her."

"Yes, sir," Halt said impassively.

"Will, you'll go too, of course," the King said. "You've kept her safe before. Do it again."

"Yes, sir," Will said, grinning broadly. He had assumed that he would accompany his mentor

but one never knew. Then it got even better.

"Horace, just in case they can't manage it between them, you're going as Cassandra's personal bodyguard. Understand?"

"Yes, your majesty," Horace said, and he and Will exchanged grins. Will mouthed the words

'like old times' and Horace nodded. Cassandra beamed at the two of them and moved a little closer to them. Off to one side, a frown touched Alyss's face.

"Right. Now, in addition to the three of you, I'll want to send a reasonable force as well. Say,

twenty armed men from the Royal Guard." The King paused as Halt raised a hand to interject. "Yes?"

"Sir, we won't need them," he began but the King interrupted him.

"This is not a matter of your ego, Halt. I'm not happy about sending my daughter on this

mission in the first place and I do insist you need an adequate force to protect her. You three

aren't enough in my estimation."

"I agree, your majesty. But you're forgetting we'll have thirty fully armed Skandians with us as

well. They're the best fighting men in the world." Svengal interupted. Horace couldn't help himself. He grunted in agreement, then hastily made a gesture of apology for interrupting. The King looked from Halt to Horace, then back to Halt again.

"You trust them?" he asked bluntly and Halt nodded.

"With my life, your majesty."Duncan fingered his chin thoughtfully.

"It's not your life I'm worried about."

"I'd trust them with my life too, Dad," Cassandra said firmly. Halt added further reassurance.

"I'll have Svengal swear a helmsman's oath that he and his men will protect her. Once they've done that, you'd have to kill all thirty of them before you even got near Cassandra." Duncan drummed his fingers, considering. Eventually, he gave in.

"All right then. But I want to make sure." He looked keenly around the room. "Gilan, you'll go too." That snapped the young ranger's mind back to the room.

"Sorry, sir? I didn't hear that." He said. Crowley scoffed.

"You and your easily distracted mind." He said.

"Hey! That's not true. I'm only easily distracted when I'm in a room full of ol-" He shur his sentence off very soon.

"Good call, not finishing that sentence." Duncan said with a grin. "You're going to Arrida."

**A/N I hope you like it. You know the drill. Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Here's chapter two!**

**THIS IS A DISCLAIMER FOR THE ENTIRE STORY. I'm lazy and I don't want to keep saying it every chapter.**

**I DO NOT OWN RANGER'S APPRENTICE!**

* * *

Chapter 2.

"You, master wants to see you. Now." A large bulky man told the small redhead, who was fighting someone else in the training rink.

"Fine, let me finish here." Her voice said. She lunged forward with incredible speed, caught her opponents wrist and pulled it behind his back. She kicked his shins, making him fall to the ground. The other man was forced to drop his sword and the young woman won. She was trained by the master himself, and became on of the best in their camp. She struggled at first, and after a lot of defeats, she finally managed to get the hang of it.

She hadn't walked away without a scratch either. She had gotten a few scars on the way. Two on her face. It seemed like a claw-mark, from the left side of her chin to just below her eyes, two lines next to each other. The others where covered by clothing, but still there.

The woman let the man she was fighting go, and walked to the other man who called out for her.

"What is it he wants, Jared?" She asked him. The other man shrugged.

"No idea. He just said I had to find you." Jared said as they walked through the camp. "I couldn't find you in your usual hiding spot, so I found you here. Can't sleep?"

"Nope." It was night, and the man she just fought with was one of the only ones still awake. The rest of the way to the big tent was in silence. When they got there, Jared pointed at it, and left with a short goodbye. Once inside, she was met by three other men in the tent. Two of them she knew. One was the master. A tall man with dirty blonde hair and cold brown eyes. The other was her brother Daniel. He had a light shade of red hair, that nearly always fell in front of his bright blue eyes. The third man, she didn't recognize.

"May, I'd like you to meet Toshak. I have a mission for you." Master said. May nodded and turned to the third man. It was obvious he was Skandian. He was just as big as the others. She looked him over with a bored expression.

"What's the mission?" She asked the man in front of her.

"We had a plan, to take over Skandia, and so far it worked out. But for the next part, we want some extra security. You'll be joining Toshak in Arrida. You will kidnap Oberjarl Erak and bring him to Maashava. You will be working with Toshak, Yusal en the Tualaghi." Master said to her. May nodded again and grinned.

"When do we start?" She asked.

~O.O~

After two days riding, Toshak and May finally reached the coast, where Toshak's ship was. When she saw the ship, May paled.

"What's the matter girly, affraid of ships?" Toshak mocked.

"No." She shortly answered. May got off her horse and handed to reins to a man who would put him on the ship. "If you're looking for me, I'm up there." She pointed at the top of the mast and flew off. She shifted into her usual raven and sat down near the flag. She managed to avoid seasickness like that.

Toshak stared at the woman for a while, before he continued passing out commands to his crew. This was a detail that old fool managed to forget. Master must be getting old, to forget details like that. Or it was on purpose.

He told Toshak about May. This would be her first mission away from base camp, but she had a connection to Erak. It would hurt him more to get captured and killed by someone he knows and cared about. He knew what the master did to her, to make her a good soldier. He had her in isolation for half a year. Planting false memories in her head. Making her forget her old life. It was cruel, but it had to be done. Master claimed she was one of his best. Together with her brother, who was there aswell. Daniel would have gone, if May hadn't met Erak before. Now Toshak had to deal with the second choise.

~O.O~

May hated ships. She loathed them. She didn't get how anyone could be comfortable on one of those blasted things. A sharp flare of pain shot through her head. A memory flashed through her mind.

* * *

_A boy stood next to her on another skandian ship. He looked familiar. Shaggy brown hair and warm brown eyes. May hung over the edge of the boat, her eyes shut tightly as the boy started to speak._

"_You know, boats aren't that bad." He said. Will. That's his name, isn't it? May looked up and glared at him. "I am going to regret that statement, aren't I?"_

* * *

May was pulled out of her thoughts when a slightly larger wave rolled under the boat. She narrowed her eyes and flew down, when she landed she shifted back to human, standing near Toshak.

"Please tell me there won't be any complications at sea." She said in a bored voice.

"What's the matter? Affraid of some waves?" Toshak mocked again. He really needed to control that tongue of his.

"No, I just highly dislike that. Just get us to Arrida in one piece." May bitterly said to the man in front of her. Without another word, she walked away, returning to her original place in the mast. She liked to be up high. She could see more, and felt a bit of freedom when she was high. That's why her raven form was her favorite. She deemed it best not to let Toshak know she had more forms. For now.

May morphed back and leaned against the mast. Maybe some sleep would speed this trip up. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind. Sleep did sound good right now.

~O.O~

The following day, the three Rangers, accompanied by Horace and Svengal, were on the road, headed for Castle Araluen.

The others had watched with broad grins as Halt kissed his new wife

goodbye. Lady Pauline took their separation philosophically. When she had accepted Halt's

proposal, she had known that their life together would be interrupted by urgent missions and sudden departures. Still, she thought wryly, it might have been nice if this particular departure had been a little less sudden, a little less urgent.

Alyss had stood beside her, waving with her as the five mounted figures cantered down the

winding road that led away from Castle Redmont. Pauline glanced sidelong at her protege and couldn't resist the tiniest vestige of a smile at Alyss's set face.

"Why so glum?" she asked innocently. Alyss looked up at her, grimacing.

"He's going off with her again," the young girl said. No need for Pauline to ask who she might mean. Alyss and Will had been seeing a lot of each other in the past year, she knew. They had become very close. Now it obviously bothered Alyss that Will was setting out on a mission with Cassandra once more. Alyss knew that the Ranger's apprentice and the Princess shared a special relationship. She just wasn't sure how special it might be.

"I've been trying to work out a reason for me to go along with them," she added, a little disconsolately.

"To keep an eye on your investment?" Alyss nodded. "Exactly. I thought I could volunteer to go as a companion to her and as a diplomatic adviser. I'm good at negotiations, you know."

"That's true." Pauline considered the idea. "In fact, it might have been worth suggesting. I

would have supported the idea. Why didn't you?" Alyss looked away from her now, her eyes intent on the small group gradually dwindling from sight. At least, Pauline corrected, her eyes were intent on one member of the small group.

"Two reasons. I decided Will and Halt and the others didn't need the responsibility of another female to look after. If I were there, it would mean that much less protection for Cassandra. And she is the Crown Princess, after all."

"And the other reason?" Pauline prompted her. Alyss grinned a little ruefully.

"I thought I might succumb to the temptation of hitting her over the head with an oar," she said.

"Which would not have been a good career move." Pauline grinned in her turn. "And she is the Crown Princess after all," she parroted.

The riders had disappeared into the fringes of the forest. Pauline slipped her arm inside Alyss's and led her away from the battlements where they had been standing.

"Don't worry too much about it," She said.

~O.O~

Svengal groaned for, what easily could have been, the hundreth time. He twisted and turned in the saddle, to find a way to sit comfortably.

"How dou you stand this all day long?" He asked in dispair.

"Same as how you stand staying on a ship all day long. See I don't get it. You're on a boat that wobbles and rocks, and you keep standing. We put you on an old and very calm horse, and you instantly try to get off of it." Halt mused.

"I'm not trying to get off." Svengal told him. "I swear he's trying to buck me off."

"Oh really? Buck you off?" Gilan said hiding his face. "I don't think I saw plod bucking."

"He bucked, I tell you," Svengal insisted, standing more or less upright and groaning again. He couldn't quite straighten at the waist. "I felt a distinct movement."

"He turned to the left," Gilan told him dryly.

"Suddenly," Svengal insisted. The Rangers exchanged incredulous looks.

"Plod never did anything suddenly in his life," Halt said. "At least, not in the past fifteen years of it."

"That's why we call him Plod," Will put in helpfully. Svengal glared at him.

"That's not what I call him," he said venomously. Again, the three Rangers exchanged amused looks.

"Well, yes, I'll admit we have heard some colourful language this morning," Gilan said. He

turned to Halt. "Who is this Gorlag character, by the way? And does he really have horns and

teeth and long shaggy hair?"

"He's a very useful person," Halt told him. "You can invoke him by all of those different

features. He's the very soul of variety. One never gets bored with Gorlag around."

Svengal, during this breezy interchange, was eyeing the battleaxe hanging from Plod's saddle bow. He wasn't sure if he'd rather use it on the pony, or on the three Rangers who were enjoying his predicament so thoroughly.

"It's good to have you back, Gil." Will said to the other ranger.

"Good to be back. I have to admit, I couldn't do it alone." He said back.

Horace decided it had all gone far enough. He slipped from Kicker's saddle and caught Plod's trailing bridle, leading him towards the aching Skandian.

"You three don't have a lot of sympathy, do you?" he asked. The three Rangers exchanged

glances again, at each other.

"Not really," Gilan agreed cheerfully. "I used to have it, then I lost it, I found it again. Then lost it again." Horace dismissed them with a wave of his hand and turned to Svengal.

"Come on. I'll give you a boost." He held out his hands, forming a stirrup to help Svengal into the saddle. The Skandian backed away, holding his aching back with one hand.

"I'll walk," he said.

"You can't walk all the way to Araluen," Horace said reasonably. "Now come on. The best

thing you can do when you've had a fall is get back in the saddle again." He looked at the three Rangers. "Am I right?"

Three cowled heads nodded. They looked like green and grey vultures, Horace thought.

"Get on again?" Svengal asked. "On that?" Horace nodded, encouragingly.

"You're telling me that the best thing I can do, after this fiend from hell has lurched and spun

and jumped and broken every second bone in my body, is to get back on and give him another chance at me?"

"That's right. Come on. I'll boost you up." Painfully, Svengal limped forward, raising his right foot and placing it in Horace's cupped hands. The next part, the sudden convulsive leap upwards, involving all his thoroughly abused major muscle groups, was going to hurt like the very devil, he knew. He looked into Horace's eyes. Honest. Encouraging. Free of guile.

"And I thought you were my friend," he said bitterly.

**A/N Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hello! I've got bad news, good news and some bad news.**

**First, School starts in a week, so I have to get ready and stuff. I still need to stock up on school supplies (I'm secretly proud of that, I usuallu obsess over school and I usually already have everything the second day the summer break starts.) So I have a little less time to write.  
****Second, I've seen Guardians of the Galaxy. (Not really good news, but I wanted at least one thing that isn't negative.)  
Third, I won't be updating very much in the next few weeks, due to me going back to school. The first five/six weeks, I try to be social every once in a while, after that I lose hope on classmates, and turn back to only friends.**

**Didn't I put a disclaimer for the entire story at the last chapter?**

* * *

Chapter three.

May sat on the railing of the boat with her violin in her hands. She was tuning it with a bored expression on her face. The ship was currently docked to gather some supplies in a port.

"Oi, do you have to do that here?" One of the crew members asked her. May responded with striking all four strings as loud as she can. She smirked and kept tuning her instrument.

"Stop tormenting my crewmembers." Toshak said, slightly amused by her response. "I need them to get to Arrida." May nodded and put away her violin. She closed the case and put it down on the deck.

"You don't speak much, do you?" Another man asked her.

"No." May shortly said.

"Why not? You seem to like making noises with that contraption." The man pointed at the case. "I'm Horak."

"May." She shook his hand, and turned her gaze to the ocean. "I don't talk, because I have nothing to say." She sighed silently and hopped off the railing.

"Come on, there's always something to be said." Horak said to May.

"Not with me." May said before she picked up her case.

"Fine then. Oh, and Toshak said something about leaving in five minutes. I think you'd want to know that." May nodded her thanks to the man and went below deck to put her violin back with Hunter.

When she got back up to the deck, everyone was preparing to leave again. Toshak noticed her and walked to her.

"I need you to do something." He said to her. "I have heard that we're followed by another skandian ship. The oberjarl's ship. I need you to see how far behind they are, and who's on it. May merely rolled her eyes and flew off, flying a few circles around the mast first. Horak stood next to Toshak and looked at the sight before him.

"I don't like this. She doesn't do anything, and she doesn't say much either." Toshak said to him.

"Look, obviously the master send her with us for a reason. It'll work out." Horak said to his captain.

"It better, as soon as it even looks like she's up to something, I'll make her regret it." He said while narrowing his eyes at the raven that cirlcled around his ship.

~O.O~

"Halt are you alright?" Gilan asked for the fourth time that day.

"'M fine." Halt said.

"You don't look fine, is something bothering you?" Gilan asked him.

"No, something is bothering me. Some idiot keeps asking me if I'm okay." Halt said to Gilan. "I just want to…" His sentence was cut off by a slightly larger wave. Halt raced to the railing of the ship and emptied what was left in his stomach.

Gilan frowned at what he saw in front of him. It was really strange. Halt, who usually was calm, and always looked strong, was hunched over the railing of the ship. It was strange, yet amusing. Who would have known Halt was seasick.

"Can I borrow your helmet?" Halt asked a Skandian who just mocked him for being seasick.

"Sure, here you go." The Skandian said. "Where do ya need it for?"

"I wouldn't do that, if I where you. The last time he borrowed a helmet-" Will wasn't able to finish his sentence. Svengal's face lit up in a memory, and he grabbed his helmet back.

"Find yer own bucket." He said before stomping off.

Gilan laughed before he looked up to the sky. He frowned again and looked around. All he could see was sea. There was no land in sight. He turned around to find Svengal, and saw him near the helm. He made his way over to him, regularly glancing up to the sky.

"Hey Svengal?" He asked when he was close enough.

"Yes, what is it?" Svengal said.

"Are we close to land?" Gilan asked.

"Not really, at least a day worth of sailing." Svengal shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Because there's a raven circling your mast. And last time I checked, they aren't sea-birds." Gilan said while pointing at the bird in the sky.

"You're right, they're not." Svengal said thougthfully. Gilan's eyes widened in realisation and he turned around to the rest.

"Everyone, no matter how you do it. And don't ask why. Catch that bird!" He shouted to the crew in front of him.

~O.O~

"-Catch that bird!" One of the men below May shouted. She looked down and saw one of those men in mottled cloaks. She scoffed in her mind. Stupid idiotic men. They'd never catch her alive. May decided to play with their game for a while.

She closed her wings and dived down. Nearly missing the head of one of the cloaks. She looked back and saw a young man who looked strangely familiar. Brown hair, brown eyes. Where did she see those before?

She shook her head and looked ahead again. She turned to the left and barely avoided a Skandian. She had to focus, so she wouldn't lose. May zigzagged through the men trying to catch her. She let out an amused croak and turned around again. She stopped and flew in one spot for a while.

Who is he? There's a man next to the helm. He's one of the cloaked men, but he seems… familiar. He was the man who called out to catch her. She couldn't see his face from up high, but now… She knew him. No that's not right. Everyone I know is from the camp, or dead.

May shook her head and flew past the man.

She avoided everyone trying to catch her, it didn't go as smooth as she planned it, but she managed to get away. She flew up and got over the clouds. When she was out of sight she turned around and returned to Toshak's ship.

~O.O~

"By Gorlog's beard, what where you thinking?" Svengal said as soon as the peace returned to the ship.

"I believe that was a shapeshifter. Someone knows we're coming." Gilan said as calm as he possibly could. "Now, if you excuse me. I'm going to see if Blaze is okay." Without waiting for an answer, Gilan stormed away.

"What's up with him?" Svengal said as he watched the ranger run away.

"Let's just say he's got a history with shapeshifters." Halt said carefully.

"Aye, was it that redheaded girl?" Svengal asked Halt.

"Yes, May was Gilan's apprentice, and girlfriend. Until she ran away. He hasn't heard from her since. One of her forms was a black raven." Will explained. "This probably made him think of her. The first few months she was gone, where terrible. He was nearly kicked out of the force because he wouldn't come out of his cabin, unless it was absolutely nessesairy." Halt grunted in agreement.

"After that, he became a bit obsessive over his work. If he wasn't riding around the fief to see how everything was, he would probably be training away his sadness. It became worse over the weeks, and eventually his father send word for Halt, to talk him out of this. And now he's this. He acts as if he's happy, but he misses her. We all can see it. Gilan just thinks we can't." Will finished his story.

"That's got to be tough." Svengal said before he turned to the sea again.

~O.O~

May crash landed on Toshak's ship. She landed and fell to the ground. She shook her head while shifting back to human. May got a few strange looks, but she shrugged them off and headed to Toshak.

"There's one ship heading in the same direction as us." May told him. "There's one Skandian crew on it, with a few extra's. So far I've seen three of those cloaked men, a knight and some girl." May ran her hand through her hair, bringing it up to a ponytail. She binded it with a black ribbon she had around her wrist.

"They're about two days, maybe three, behind us. Where can I find some water?" She said. Toshak handed her a bottle and May drank it all.

"Any complications?" Toshak asked as soon as she was done.

"I'm not sure. I knew two of them. Well I knew them, but I don't know them." She said. "Two of those rangers. One of them was short. He had brown hair and eyes. He can't be older than twenty." She paused before she described the second man she recognized. "The other one… He had dark hair and blue eyes. I knew him. But why can't I remember him?"

"Maybe he wasn't important? Just forget about it. We'll be at our destination in about an hour." Toshak said. May nodded and walked away.

"This is getting difficult. Keep a close eye on her. I don't want her to turn her back on us." Toshak said to Horak. He nodded and followed the girl.

~O.O~

About two hours later, everyone was waiting in the desert. Thirty Skandians and May. May had her light brown cloak on. She had one in nearly every color she could use for camouflage. Green, for regular forests. White, for snowscapes. Brown for desers.

May was scanning the desert in front of her. She never liked the heat. It's too warm, and annoyingly light. May prefers the dark. Staying out of sight and in the shadows. Being in a large desert, with no shade at all, made her uneasy. The only shadows around her where those created by everyone around her, and the shadow of the cowl of her cloak.

"There." Toshak pointed out. "At the horizon a small group of black dots was coming towards them.

"Finally." May muttered, but no one heard her. She was standing next to Hunter, absentmindedly stroking his neck.

The dots turned into people riding horses, untill they stopped in front of them. May guessed there where fifteen to twenty men. They all had blue veils across their faces, and brown clothing.

"You must be Toshak and his crew." The leader said. May growled softly, she would never be a part of Toshak's crew, she didn't want to. "Oh, and the masters representative of course. I am Iqbal. Yusal's brother. He couldn't make it, but you will be meeting him in Maashava. We will talk later. Right now we've got to move, Erak's on the move and we need to strike before it's too late."

May nodded and got on her horse. Without saying a thing she followed the Tualaghi. Keeping her eyes fixed on everything that was happening around her. When the sun started to set, they stopped.

"The caravan transporting Erak will pass through here tomorrow around noon. We will have to wait here." Iqbal said.

"But you said we had to move fast so we could reach them in time." Toshak said while narrowing his eyes. May sighed and spoke up.

"Days in the desert are incredibly hot, and the nights incredibly cold. To prepare for a raid, as you might call it, takes a bit longer due to the two extremes. We will need to create hiding spots. You can see for miles and miles here." She explained.

"Yes, thank you…" Iqbal half asked, trying to get her name.

"May." She said. Still looking bored. "Master send me."

"Oh, good. I've heard of you. You're right, we do need to create hiding places. I didn't think you'd see that." May scoffed and shook her head.

"I'm not an ignorant little girl. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to set up my tent." With that May steered Hunter away from the others.

"Oh, she's fun." A man next to Iqbal said.

"Shut it Amir." Iqbal said. "Master said she's the best he's got. We've got to work with her. Now about those hiding places…"

~O.O~

May narrowed her eyes at the bright sun in the morning. Who would have known that the sun could be so annoying.

Coffee.

She needed Coffee. Soon. Now. Strangely she smelled it. May stretched and looked around. One of those Tualaghi was brewing a pot. May grinned and silently stood behind him.

"Can I have some?" She said as soon as she was directly behind him. She grinned again when he jumped up. May shook her head when she sat across the fire from him.

"Sure." He said. "You're May, right? I'm Amir. I stood next to Iqbal yesterday before you left."

"Good for you." May said as she took the cup from Amir.

"How did you do that? Snealing up on me. I didn't hear a thing!" Amir said.

"Training." Was all she said before she remained silent again. A long time passed in the same silence. May liked it like that. Some peace and qiuet.

"WHO TOOK MY AXE!" And just like that the peace and quiet was gone for the day.

**A/N I NEED YOUR HELP!  
I was thinking, I want to get this story started, but for that to happen, everyone needs to be in the desert. So not just May, also Gilan, Will, Evanlyn, Halt and stuff. SO should I skip the part in Al shabah, with the Wakir and Seley El'then. They're the same person... Too lazy to correct it.**

***Ahem* Reviews:**

Something like me: **Thank you, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. And of course she will meet everyone. Well maybe she'll miss Will. Or not. Or she won't remember them. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know what's going to happen in my own story.**

Seth 8627: **Thank you. I actually started to write the story, the first story, with already parts of this in my mind :D**

**I hope you review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Hello there. I'm back with another chapter. I'm off to school tomorrow, and after that, I think I'll be able to write a bit more. I'm not sure though, I've got a few new teachers and I don't know if they give a lot of homework. I really wish I could skip friday this week... I have to sit through a long and boring explaination about how to use the school lab. Probably the exact same one I had last year... Anyway, new chapter!**

**I decided to stick with May in the desert until they meet.**

Chapter 4.

Iqbal was right. The next day, around noon, a large dustcloud moved towards them. May was send ahead to scout, and reported it to the other men. There where about fifteen men transporting Erak, and they would be easily overpowered.

Everyone took their places in their hiding spots. The entire day they where building them. It sort of looked like a tent, but a lot flatter, and with the same brown yellow camouflage of the desert. All they had to do now, is wait until the caravan reaches the right spot.

At the right time, May jumped out. Pretending to be a lost traveler. She had darkened her hair with an oil, so it was black now. Her red curls would give her away instantly. The caravan stopped in front of her and asked her if she was alright. At least that's what May thought they said, she couldn't understand Arridi. May stumbled and fell down. Some of the men in the caravan dismounted and ran to her.

"Wrong choice." She said when they reached her.

May unsheathed her swords and knocked the two men near her out. At the same moment, the Tualaghi jumped out of their hiding spot and ambushed the caravan. Toshak's crew helped and secured Erak as their prisoner.

The fight didn't last very long, and at the end their ambush had been succesful. May looked around and tried not to throw up. The sight was horrible. No one was left alive. The Tualaghi where mercyless people, who would even raid the dead.

"Take everything with you, leave the bodies. The animals will take care of them." Iqbal said to everyone left alive. "We leave in an hour."

"Those are some good swordskills you just showed." Amir said to May when he got to her.

"Practise makes perfect." May bitterly said.

"Still, you're good." He commented with a grin.

"I've seen better." May shrugged off as she walked to her horse. "Is there anything you want?" She turned around and looked at him with a blank expression.

"I like your hair. It's pretty like this." He said with a grin.

"If you're trying to flirt with me, It's not working. I don't believe in stuff like that. When you love, or even like someone, it will be taken away from you." May said in a monotone voice. She turned around again to secure her luggage on Hunter.

"That's kind off harsh to say, don't you think? You're going to like people eventually. And if they like you back, they won't give up on you, and find a way to get to you." Amir said. "But I wasn't flirting, just making friends. It's boring in the desert, and we've got a long way to go. It'll be better when you have someone to talk to."

"I don't do talking." May said.

"Also good, coffee then?" Amir smirked at her. May sighed and slowly turned around to face him.

"You don't give up, do you?" She asked.

"Nope." May scoffed, but agreed to some coffee. The two sat in silence for the remaining hour. Silently enjoying their coffee. Eventually it was May who spoke up.

"I have to admit, this is some good coffee." She said with a slight grin.

"Did you just, Ha! I thought you didn't do talking." Amir asked her.

"I don't, but that doesn't mean this isn't good coffee." Before Amir could reply to that, Iqbal signalled that they're leaving. May and Amir nodded and got ready to leave. There was a long journey ahead of them.

* * *

The days in the desert passed slowly, and soon May got in a routine. Wake up, get some coffee and breakfast with Amir, She warmed up to him, a little at least, and now they'd talk sometimes. ride the entire day, eat, train and sleep. Sometimes Iqbal would send her ahead to scout the area. See if they where being followed. So far, she couldn't find anyone. Everything was going according to plan, and everything was calm. Well, untill today.

Iqbal had decided to use one of his own scouts instead of May. He got back after an hour and reported to Iqbal that he found a small camp. There were about fifty Arridi warriors, and four strangers. Two in light brown cloaks, a bit like May. A knight, one Skandian and a girl. He dismissed the scout and ordered one of his men to find Toshak and May.

"We have a problem. About ten miles south, there's a small camp following us." Iqbal said when the two had arrived. Toshak immediatly gave May a glare, who raised her hands in innocence.

"I didn't see them. We were clear two days ago." She said.

"They where well hidden." Iqbal said. "And it's nothing we can't handle. we've got the upper hand here. We have more men, and the element of surprise. Now, are you up for some excitement?" May curtly nodded and excused herself to get ready, leaving the two men behind.

"There's a problem." Toshak said to Iqbal. "The two cloaked men know May, I believe. They're rangers, like she used to be. Master took those memories away from her, but there is a posibility she'll get those back when she sees them."

"If she does, she can join those rangers." Iqbal shrugged off. "I already knew this. Master keeps me well informed. I have everything planned out. Don't worry."

* * *

"Wake up, there's something to do." May woke Amir up. It was still early in the morning and appearantly Amir had dozed off.

"Hmm?" He hummed.

"We have company, a few miles south. We leave in ten minutes." May explained.

"How many?" Amir asked her shortly.

"What I've heard, fifty Arridi and five extra's." May shrugged. "But we've got four times that, Thirty Skandians and me."

"So it won't be much of a fight." Amir half asked, half stated.

"I'm not sure about that. If they're the same people who where following us at sea, we don't want to underestimate them. They nearly caught me. One of the men spotted me almost as soon as I flew over them. They have good eyes, and think before they act."

"Wait fly?" Amir turned around to her. "I must he hearing things. I swore you said 'fly'"

"I did." May grinned, she looked at Amir and practically saw the gears turning in his head. "Why do you think there's a raven circling the camp every now and then?"

"Oh, Oh, you're a-"

"Shh. I don't want everyone to know. You never know when that could come in helpful." May interrupted him.

"Okay. I get it." A horn signal was heard. "I take it that's our cue to leave."

"I believe it is." May nodded. "Don't get killed today."

"Don't worry, I'll still be here to bother you." Amir grinned before he ran to his horse.

* * *

A few miles south, the Arridi and guests had stopped in the middle of the day, as was their custom. It was this fact that gave the Tualaghi leaders their final opportunity to spring the trap they had spent the day preparing.

After the main heat of the day had passed, and before they continued on their way, the Araluans were discussing ideas for a possible rescue operation. Gilan was sent last night to spy on the camp, and found that Erak was held in the middle of the camp, with a few guards, but still out in the open. He saw the raven again too, but that shouldn't be a big problem, they probably just use it to scout the area. All they had to do is be a bit more careful with setting up camp, so it can't be spotted from above.

Under cover of darkness, either of the two Rangers would be able to make his way into the camp unseen by the Tualaghi. The problem arose when it came to getting Erak out unseen.

"That's why they keep him out in the open, of course," Evanlyn said. "If he escapes, anyone looking in that direction can see that he's gone."

"Plus you'll need a way to cut him loose from those camels," Horace put in.

"Maybe only one," Svengal suggested. "If you could cut the chains to one, he could ride the other one out of the camp."

"Be just a little obvious," Gilan said. "The combination of a Skandian and a camel isn't exactly hard to notice and the last thing we want is a running fight with two hundred Tualaghi. And that camel will be easily spotted from the sky." Halt sat to one side, quietly listening as his friends put up suggestions then rejected them.

Most of these thoughts he'd already examined. But there was always the chance that a stray remark might trigger the eventual solution to their problem. Not so far, however, he thought ruefully. For the moment, the best they could hope to do was continue as they were. If they could reach the wells before the Tualaghi, they might be able to arrange something. Exactly what, he had no idea. But long experience had taught him that if you waited long enough, sooner or later an unexpected opportunity might arise.

"You're quiet, Halt," Horace said, turning to where the grey-bearded Ranger sat. "Do you have any...?" His voice trailed away to silence as his eyes lifted from Halt to the ridge behind him, some hundred and fifty metres away.

"Good God," he said, in a more urgent tone of voice, "where did they come from?"

The others followed his gaze. They had camped in a large, saucer-shaped depression, concealed from the sight of any Tualaghi stragglers. But the problem with concealing yourself from sight is that others can be concealed as well. Selethen had pickets out, of course, beyond the ridge line. But later, they would see the bodies of those men lying where the Tualaghi skirmishers had killed them.

For the moment, their attention was fixed upon the line of armed horsemen that had justmaterialised over the ridge, spreading out in a semi-circle across their intended line of march.

Halt swore softly and turned quickly to look behind them. As he had feared, another line of horsemen stood at the top of that ridge. They were trapped between the two parties, each of which was at least one hundred strong. By now, others had seen the enemy as well and the Arridi troops were running and shouting, pointing to the two lines of horsemen who had them trapped. Selethen's voice rose above the others and the moment of panic passed as he began to form his men into a defensive circle, with their horses inside it. The four Araluans and Svengal quickly gathered their weapons and moved to join the Arridi leader.

Selethen cursed bitterly. Only the night before, he had boasted about the Tualaghi's overconfidence now he had fallen into the same trap. The desert raiders were wily and unpredictable. He should always have assumed that they might get wind of the fact that someone was trailing them. That they had done so through an immense stroke of luck was unknown to him. Even if he had known it, it wouldn't have changed things. A good leader should plan for bad luck.

As Halt and the others joined him, he nodded briefly. There was no point in recriminations, he knew. Now all they could do was create the best defence they could.

"You're fighting them on foot?" Halt asked.

The Arridi nodded. "No point in mounting and trying to charge them. We're too badly outnumbered."

"And you'd be charging uphill," Horace remarked. "All the advantage would lie with them. Let them come to us." Selethen looked at him, a little surprised. For one so young, Horace had sized up the tactical situation quickly. Most of Selethen's young troopers would have chosen to charge the enemy, he knew. Horace saw the look, guessed at the thought behind it and shrugged. He'd had good teachers. He unsheathed his sword now, the blade hissing out of the scabbard.

Svengal was looking around the ring of Arridi warriors. They had their shields locked together and each man was armed with one of the slender lances they usually used from horseback. In addition, each one wore a curved sabre for close quarters work.

"Shield wall," he said approvingly. "Good work." It was a standard Skandian battle tactic and he felt instantly at home. He swung his massive battleaxe experimentally, the huge, heavy blade making a thick swooshing sound as it passed through the air. For now, he'd stand back. But the minute a gap appeared in the wall, he'd fill it. Any Tualaghi warrior planning on breaking through would have an ugly surprise waiting for him. Horace looked at him and read his thoughts. 'I'll join you," he said quietly, moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with the bear-like northerner. Svengal grinned at him.

"With us two, we could probably send the rest of these boys home," he said.

Gilan and Halt also stood side by side, but in the centre of the ring formed by the shield wall. Gilan was scanning both lines of Tualaghi before he stopped and stared at one person in the line. Evanlyn looked at them, her heart thudding nervously in her chest. They all seemed so calm.

She was sure her hands were trembling. For a moment, she thought of getting her sling from where it was concealed, but she realised that the two Rangers' longbows would provide more than adequate long distance firepower. Instead, she accepted a spare shield from Selethen and eased her sabre in and out of its scabbard. No need to draw it yet, she thought. She swallowed nervously.

Halt saw her and called softly. "Evanlyn, come here with us." As she moved to stand beside the Rangers, he gestured to the ridge at their back. "Gilan and I are going to concentrate our fire to the front. Keep an eye on the Tualaghi behind us. When they're within fifty metres, let us know and we'll switch."

"Yes, Halt," she said. Her mouth was dry and she didn't trust herself to say more.

"Gilan?" Halt asked as he followed his gaze.

"There, seventh to the right, small figure in a brown cloak, black hair. She looks familiar." He didn't trust himself to say her name. It still hurt him.

"She looks like her, but that's probably it Gil. You can't say for sure from a distance like this. May has red hair, very bright and very noticeable red. I don't think it's her. And if it where, she'd be here fighting with us, not against us."

Gilan grinned nervously and nodded. "Okay, Make sure we hear you," he said, turned to Evanlyn. "There'll be plenty of yelling going on."

He seemed so relaxed and unworried, she thought. She missed the little talk he had with Halt. His casual manner helped to ease the butterflies that were swarming in her stomach. Selethen approached them now. "They'll try the easy way first," he said. "An all-out charge to see if they can break our position."

"Might not turn out to be as easy as they think," Gilan replied, testing the draw on his bow. Selethen regarded him for a moment. Soon, he thought, he would see just how well these two cloaked foreigners could shoot. He had the feeling that he wasn't going to be disappointed.

"Can I suggest you put four men with Svengal and Horace?" Halt said. "Use them as a reserve for any place the line is broken."

"Good idea," Selethen replied. They might be outnumbered four to one but he suspected the Tualaghi were about to get a bloody nose. He called four names and the men he had selected dropped out of the shield wall and hurried back to where he stood. The others closed up the gaps where they had been as Svengal gave the four their orders.

"Just tell them to give me a little elbow room," Svengal said. He was grinning, Evanlyn noticed. Finally, after the heat and the sand and the sore riding muscles, Svengal was about to do something he really enjoyed. She found herself smiling at the thought.

Halt noticed her lips twitching slightly. Good girl, he thought. They heard the jingle of harness before any movement was perceptible. Then the two lines of horsemen began to move forward.

"Here they come," Horace said quietly.

**A/N Halt has no idea what he just said... Anyway, I hope you like it. I'll be at school, with the worst timetable ever, And the day after that, and the day after that, and then it's friday.**

Guest: **Well thank you seth, I love writing it. I'm glad you like it.  
**

elvishrangerwolf: **Ahw, thank you.****  
**

Something like me: **Thank you! And I know! That was like, I want to skip this part, but so much happens in it and I don't know how to write it. AHRGH. And then this happened :D I hope you liked it.**

Occea: **I'm sorry, I really liked your idea of Gilan still being upset, but I just couldn't write it. I tried several times, but it just didn't fit right. But don't worry, Gilan will freak out later in the story :P Thank you for your kind review.**

**THANKS YOU GUYS! keep reviewing, they really make me happy and give me... How do I say that. AAH Stupid vocabulary. I really can't figure out the stupid word I want to use. Sorry. They give me... Yeah my brain quit. Sorry. They make me want to write more? Something like that.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Look at me, updating fast! Even though I didn't get one single review from you... And I did see some of you saw the last chapter. Yes that's right, I can virtually stalk my own story, and see how many people visit it XD**

_**Curslive is speaking in Arridi.**_** In case it's unclear.**

Chapter 5.

May watched at the people in the sand pit. One of the cloaked men was staring at her. The one that shouted they should catch her at the ship. She wondered who he was. If she didn't remember his name, then he wasn't important. She probably saw him somewhere before. Not important.

"So, what's the plan. Are you going to kill them like you did with that caravan?" May bitterly asked. They where joined by another leader of the Tualaghi, Yusal, a few hours ago. He was already on his way, when he got here, he immediately took over from Iqbal, when he found out they where followed.

"We did what we had to. If we let them live, they'd called for troops and went after us. It was their life or ours." Iqbal defended in the same bitter voice. "I want to capture them, take them to Maashava. We'll see what happens from there." Yusal gave some rapid commands in arridi, then turned back to May.

"I want you to infiltrate the camp at night. Try to take them out from within. Or at least disable them. Take out those archers." He said to her. May nodded and looked back at the camp. Within seconds it turned into chaos.

The two lines Tualaghi attacked and fought to break the wall of shields. On their way the two archers had shot down a lot of men in very little time. On both sides. It was impressive, and May knew why Yusal wanted her to take those two out. They may not have infinite arrows, but they can still do some serious damage with what they have left.

The attack was over as soon as it started. The Tualaghi returned to the higher part of the desert and set up camp, surrounding the other camp. It was a little past midday and the worst heat was over.

"So this is your big plan, you're going to wait untill they don't have any food or water left." May dryly commented. Yusal sighed and turned to her.

"Yes, it's effective. In the night you will attack those archers, and at dawn I'll give them the chance to surrender. Throughout the night I will arrange small and brief attacks, to tire them out. It will work." Yusal said. He turned back to Iqbal and talked to him in Arridi.

"_Are you sure it is safe?" _He asked.

"_No, but I have a plan." _Iqbal responded. Not following the conversation in front of her, May turned around and left to find Amir.

* * *

"Looks like you survived then." May said to him with a small grin.

"I told you I'd be here to bother you." Amir replied. "Look at you, miss I don't do talking, caring to see if I'm still alive or not."

"Yeah, you're different, I can't ignore you, even if I wanted to." She shrugged him off.

"Oh, I'm flattered."

"You should be." May sat down next to him.

"What does the big boss have in mind for you then?" Amir asked May.

"He wants me to sneak in and take out the archers." May shrugged, like it was no big deal.

"Good, those two are annoying." He nodded at her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Ask, yes. Will I answer? Not always." May said.

"Why are you here?" May tensed at the question and didn't reply for a while.

"My life was taken from me, and I just want it back." She vaguely said to him, dissmissing the subject. "What about you? You seem to be a nice guy. How'd you end up with these idiots?"

"I didn't have a choice either. Well I did have a choice. Die, or join them. I chose the latter as you can see." May looked at him and gestured him to explain it. "About six years ago the Tualaghi raided my village, my family was killed and I fought back. Yusal said he saw something in me, and offered me a chance here."

"That's got to be tough." She said to him.

"Yeah, well I learned how to live with it." Amir shrugged it off.

"May, You leave in ten minutes." Iqbal barked from a distance. Amir made a face at it. "Isn't he nice?"

"Very." May rolled her eyes and stood up. "As you heard, I've got to go." Amir waved her goodbye and May ran to Yusal's tent.

* * *

She entered the tent, not even bothering to ask for permission.

"Good, you're here. I will provide you a distraction. I want you to take out as many as you can, as fast as you can. You go in, take out those two archers, more if it's possible, and get back." Yusal said as soon as she noticed her. "And if you're successful, I will forgive you for your rude entrance."

"You're not my superior, why should I act like it?" May boredly asked.

"Because you are under my command. Because you where ordered to listen to me." Yusal said, his anger showing off.

"I was ordered to listen to Toshak. Not you." May said, not moving anything. "If you excuse me, _My lord, _I am going to fufil your wishes." She gave him a very mocking courtesy before she left the tent.

"_How dare she disobey me, talk to me like I'm a pest." _Yusal raged.

"_Be patient, we'll get rid of her soon, my liege." _Iqbal calmed him down. Hoping it would work, he needed Yusal to act like nothing was going on for his plan to work.

* * *

May waited patiently in the sky for the short attack to happen. She didn't need to worry someone would spot her. It was dark, and no one would notice a black raven in the night sky. She was slowly circling the camp below her. The Arridi where still in a circle with shields around them. Four of them where out of the circle. Dead, no doubt. A few others where in the middle of the circle, probably injured.

One of the archers was sleeping, while the other one was awake. He appeared to be talking to the knight. Curious as she was, May silently landed near them, and changed to her fox form. Careful to take on Camouflage colors of the desert. A trick her brother taught her, changing the color of her fur. She got close enough to listen in on what they where saying.

"I know Horace, she just looked a lot like her. Maybe I'm losing my mind?" The archer said to the knight. _Her? _May was the only female in the entire Tualaghi camp.

"And Halt said that that's probably it, right? I mean, I didn't see her, but you said she had black hair. The May I know has red hair." The knight responded. Wait they knew her? May looked at them a little confused. She didn't know them, right? The knight called her by her name, and knew she actually has red hair.

Maybe they know another May. There are plenty of May's in Auraluen, right?

A shout called her out of her thoughts. The second attack has begun. Time to move. May silently moved to the sleeping ranger, and bit the string of his bow, it snapped and she disabled the bow. She had to move quick now. She ran back to the other ranger and the knight, and destroyed his bow aswell. When that was done, she shifted to human and unsheathed her swords. The two in front of her stared at her confused for a second, before the knight responded. May lunged forward to the frozen archer and tried to cut his head off. She didn't think twice, and would have done it if the knight hadn't blocked her.

May turned to the Knight and started to fight with him. Her hood had fallen down, and the knight seemed hesitant to fight her at first. Only blocking attacks she gave him. After a while he gave up on defence, and jumped to offence. He forced May back, and made her drop one of her swords.

"Please May, you don't want to do this. Don't you know who we are?" He asked her. The knight stopped fighting when May didn't attack him again. After a short silence she growled and lunged forward.

"No. I don't know you." She said. May jumped up, and shifted briefly to fly over him. May landed behind the knight and hit him in the head, knocking him out. A few of the Arridi around her turned to her, and May knew the attack Yusal had arranged was over.

"Time to go." May said. She shifted again and flew off. Leaving confused Arridi, a frozen Gilan, a concerned Evanlyn and a furious Halt.

* * *

"What are you doing!?" He shouted at Gilan, who was still staring at where May had flown off.

"She was going to kill me." He mumbled. "She didn't recognize me. She was going to kill me." He shook his head and turned to the older ranger.

"Halt she was going to kill me!" He said, his voice breaking. "She didn't even know me."

Selethen joined the two, still confused about what just happened.

"Who is he talking about?" He carefully asked. "Who was that girl Horace was fighting?"

"Long story short. Gilan's girlfriend who ran away. She didn't seem to know, or even recognize him." Halt explained.

"That's strange." Selethen commented. Halt nodded in agreement. Gilan finally snapped back to reality.

"Of course it is strange. She tried to kill me, and didn't think twice about it. That is not May. She's not her." He said before he turned around and walked away.

The small attacks kept coming, but May wasn't seen again. When the sun had risen, Selethen noticed a white flag at the other side of the sand pit.

"They want to parley." Halt said.

* * *

The tall rider Selethen had identified as Yusal Makali rode down the slope, accompanied by May carrying the white flag. Selethen, with Halt carrying a similar flag, stepped through the

line of Arridi warriors and walked to meet them.

"Yusal knows I'll respect the flag of truce. Yet he'd ignore it in a moment if it suited him," Selethen said bitterly. "I wish I could ask you to simply shoot him as he rides in."

Halt shrugged. "We could do it, of course, but that wouldn't solve the problem that we're

trapped and outnumbered. And we might not get another chance to negotiate."

They stopped half a dozen metres from the two mounted men. Yusal swung down from the

saddle and advanced to meet them.

He was taller than the average Arridi or Tualaghi, Halt saw, standing a good head above Halt himself and some centimetres taller than Selethen. He wore white, flowing robes and a kheffiyeh. White was a sensible colour in the searing desert heat. But whereas Selethen's robes were all white, Yusal's were trimmed in dark blue. And while the Arridi would wind the ends of the headdress around his face for protection, the Tualaghi left his flowing free. But the lower half of his face was hidden behind a dark blue, mask-like veil. Halt had heard the Arridi refer to their enemies as 'the Veiled Ones, Forgotten of God'. Now he understood the reference.

Yusal's skin, what could be seen of it above the mask, was dark brown and burnt by years of desert sun and wind. Although the mask covered his lower face, it was obvious that the nose was prominent and curved, like a bird of prey's beak. His eyes were deep-set and hooded, under heavy brows and thick eyebrows. They were deep brown, almost black. They were the only feature Halt could make out yet he knew he would recognise Yusal again if he saw him without the veil. The eyes were cold, black and pitiless. There was no trace of mercy or warmth in them. They were a killer's eyes.

He looked over at May, and saw how much she had changed. Her eyes seemed to be lifeless, and dull. Like she wasn't there half of the time. She had dyed her hair black, but it still had the same curls. She had a few scars on her face, training accidents, Halt guessed. She didn't seem to recognize him either. Maybe she had forgotten about all of them.

"So, Wakir Seley el'then," Yusal said, "why are you following me?" The voice was muffled slightly by the veil. But it was harsh and unfriendly, like the eyes. So much for pleasantries, Halt thought.

Selethen was equally to the point. "You killed twenty of my men. And you have a prisoner

with you. We want him." Yusal shrugged. The movement was a contemptuous one.

"Come and take him then," he challenged. There was a moment of silence. Then he added, "You're in a bad position, Seley el'then. You're surrounded. You're outnumbered and your water's running short." The last. statement was a guess, of course. Yusal had no idea how little water they had and Selethen wasn't about to inform him.

"We have plenty of water," he said evenly and again, Yusal shrugged. Selethen's statements meant little to him.

"If you say so. The fact is, you will run out eventually, while I can send for all the water I need. I can afford to wait while thirst and heat starts to kill your men. You can't." He glanced back up the slope that surrounded them on all sides.

"You can attack us if you like. But it's uphill and we outnumber you four to one. There's only one way such an attack will end."

"We might surprise you," Halt said and the dark, hooded eyes swung to him, studying him, boring into him. Halt realised the unwavering stare and the silence that accompanied it were intended to unnerve him. He raised one eyebrow in a bored fashion.

"You're one of the archers, aren't you?" Yusal said. He narrowed his eyes at him for a moment. "But in spite of your marksmanship, once the battle gets to close quarters, numbers will tell."

"You requested this parley, Yusal," Selethen said. "Was it merely to tell us how hopeless our position is? Or did you have something worthwhile to say?" He allowed the same tone of contempt that the Tualaghi had used to creep into his words. Yusal looked back at him.

"Surrender," he said simply and Selethen responded with a short bark of laughter.

"And have you kill us out of hand?" he asked. The Tualaghi leader shook his head.

"You're worth money to me, Selethen. I can ask a large ransom for you. I'd be mad to kill you. And I'm sure there are people who will pay for the foreigners with you as well. I've kept the other Skandian alive for that very reason. Why would I do differently with you?"

Selethen hesitated. The Tualaghi were motivated by greed above all else and he was inclined to believe Yusal. As he thought about it, the Tualaghi leader voiced the alternative.

"Or stay here and die of thirst. It's only a matter of time. When you're weaker, we'll have no problem walking in and taking the weapons from your hands. And if you make me wait, I might not be so charitable." He turned away, as if disinterested, no matter which course Selethen might choose. The Wakir took Halt's sleeve and led him a few paces away.

"This concerns your people as well. What do you say?" he asked in a low voice. Halt looked at he tall figure standing a few metres away, his back to them.

"Do you believe him?" he asked and Selethen nodded, a fractional movement of his head.

"A Tualaghi will do anything for money," he said. "At least this way we'll have a chance. As he says, if we wait, we'll grow progressively weaker until we have to give in anyway."

Halt considered the situation. He and Gilan might break through the Tualaghi lines under cover of darkness. But even that wasn't certain. Expert though they might be at unseen movement, the ground was virtually devoid of cover. And scores of eyes would be on watch. And if they did succeed in getting past the Tualaghi, then what? They'd be on foot, with the nearest help many kilometres away. By the time they reached Mararoc to bring help, Selethen and his men would be dead.

Evanlyn, Horace and Svengal too. If they surrendered now, they'd all be in reasonable condition and an opportunity might arise to escape or turn the tables on their captors. Better now than later when they were weakened and half mad from thirst.

"Very well," he said. "Let's discuss terms."

**A/N I said that I didn't get a review for last chapter, well when I was editing this chapter one came in. So thanks!**

Guest: **Thanks, I do try to cause reactions like that. As you can see, I had a similar idea. I hope you liked it. And badly good? I like that! You'll have to wait for a while for them to really meet though. Sorry for that. But they are bound to meet again.  
**

**PLEASE PEOPLE REVIEW, I AM BEGGING YOU!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Three chapters in three days... I'm on a roll here. It probably won't stay like this, because I'm running out of ideas. Well Not ideas, just words. I'm not making sense again... I liked this chapter, because the camel Erak mentions later, has my name. Sort of. Just one letter different :D**

* * *

Chapter 6

The Arridi soldiers were disarmed and made to sit on the ground, surrounded by over a hundred Tualaghi warriors. Selethen, the four Araluans and Svengal were led to one side. Their hands were bound in front of them and they watched as Yusal and two of his officers walked among the seated Arridi troopers.

"I could kill you all now," he told them. "You know that. But instead I'm going to be merciful." Halt watched sceptically.

"And he knows that if he started killing them, they'd fight back," he said in an aside to Evanlyn. "Even though they're unarmed, he'd lose some of his own men." Men who were certain they were going to die would fight desperately to the end, he knew. But if there was a ray of hope, no matter how faint, they would take it.

"I'll keep your horses," Yusal continued, "and we'll take your boots. Then you can go." Selethen started forward angrily but a Tualaghi sentry restrained him.

"Go? Go where?" he shouted. The tall war leader turned towards him, the eyes above the blue mask devoid of any sign of mercy. He shrugged.

"That's not my concern," he said harshly. "I didn't ask these men to follow me. You did. If I leave them now in the desert, that's on your head, not mine. At least I'm giving them a chance."

"What chance will they have in the desert without water?" Selethen challenged and Yusal spread his hands in a sarcastic gesture.

"Did I say they would be left without water?" he asked. "I said I'd keep their boots and their horses. I don't want them following us. But the Word of Law says we must never turn a traveller out in the desert without water. Of course they will have water." He gestured to one of his men. "Give them two water skins," he said.

"For over thirty men? And some of them wounded? This isn't what the Law means and you know it, you murderer!"

Yusal shrugged. "Unlike you, I don't pretend to know God's will, Seley el'then. The Word of Law says a stranger must be given water. I don't recall an amount being mentioned."

Selethen shook his head bitterly. "No wonder you're the Forgotten of God, Yusal," he said.

The Tualaghi flinched at the insult as if he had been whipped. He turned and gave a curt order to his men and there was a ringing sound of steel as one hundred swords were drawn and raised over the defenceless Arridi troops.

"Your choice then, Seley el'then. Give the word and my men will kill the prisoners now. Or would you rather they had my mercy?"

His hand was raised to give the command. The muscles in Selethen's jaw knotted as he tried to control his rage and frustration. One of his troops, a lieutenant, looked up and called to the Wakir.

"Excellence, don't worry about us! We'll be all right! We'll find help and come after you!"

Yusal laughed then. "How brave! Perhaps I should kill this one. I wouldn't like to think that such a fierce warrior was dogging my footsteps." He stepped close to the young officer and drew his own sword. The Arridi looked up at him defiantly.

"Your choice, Seley el'then," Yusal repeated.

"Stop." To all of their surprises it was May who spoke up. "Stop this now Yusal. Don't kill people who can't fight back. Do it, and I will turn my back on you. Go ahead, tell me you don't need me. You'd be lying to all of us. I know you need me for something, or I'd already be dead." She narrowed her eyes at the Tualaghi leader, who did the same in return.

Eventually Selethen made a small gesture of defeat.

"Let them live," he said quietly and Yusal laughed again.

"I thought you might change your mind." He gave another hand gesture to his own men and

their weapons were sheathed. Then he leaned down to May. His eyes, dark and cruel as those of a bird of prey, bored into May's.

"You're brave enough now, girl," he said in a quiet, bitter voice. "But wait till I deal with you later today." The young woman's defiant gaze dropped from Yusal's. The Tualaghi war leader snorted in contempt.

"Turn them out into the desert!" Then, to the guards who were gathered round Halt, Selethen and the others, he ordered, "Bring these ones to the camp!" He turned away, strode to his horse, mounted and rode off towards the crest without a backward glance.

The guards moved in on the small party of hostages. Four of them surrounded Svengal and two more stationed themselves behind him. Obviously, their dealings with Erak had taught them what to expect from the wild sea wolves.

Before Svengal could resist, one of the men behind him struck him across the back of the knees with the haft of his spear. The Skandian's legs collapsed under the unexpected blow and he fell to the ground. Instantly, the four were upon him, hobbling his legs with leather thongs so that he could only shuffle along, taking half steps.

Then they dragged the big man to his feet again. He glared at them, the rage boiling up inside him. But the sight of the drawn daggers that surrounded him was enough to calm him down. There was no point to suicide, he realised.

Another guard stepped forward and dragged Evanlyn out of the group. Horace went to intercept him but a spear butt rammed into his stomach stopped him in his tracks. He sagged to his knees, gasping for breath.

"The girl is a valuable hostage," Halt warned the guard. "Yusal won't thank you if she's harmed."

The man hesitated. In fact, he had only been interested in the necklace that Evanlyn wore. He seized it now and dragged her off balance as he examined it. But the rounded stones threaded onto the string were worthless marble.

"Keep them!" he snarled. "They're worth nothing!"

He shoved her back with the others, then gave a brisk order. The guards mounted and herded their captives on foot towards the camp, their hands tied tightly before them with leather thongs. Urged on by spear butts and curses, they stumbled on the uneven ground.

One of the guards rode close to Gilan.

He had lost three friends to the Rangers' arrows during the attack that morning and he took every opportunity now to crack his spear shaft painfully across the Ranger's shoulders and back. The fourth time he did so, Gilan turned and looked up at him with a peculiar smile.

"What are you looking at, foreigner?" the guard demanded roughly. The smile was a little unsettling. A prisoner shouldn't smile at his captors like that, he thought.

"I'm just making sure I can remember you," Gilan told him. "Never know when that might be useful." The spear cracked down across his shoulders. He flinched, then nodded meaningfully at the Tualaghi rider before he began plodding up the hill once more.

* * *

"You worthless, annoying, cocky, full fo yourself, foolish little brat." Yusal spat at May when they reached his tent. "I told you not to do anything like that again." He raised his hand and struck May across her face. She fell down, but looked up to glare at him.

"I told you to take out those archers. Meaning, kill them." Yusal growled.

"You told me to, 'take them out.' I disabled their bows, and now they can't shoot with it." May replied with an angry edge to her tone.

"I will teach you some respect, and you better listen carefully." Yusal yelled at her.

"Oh, I can tell you that's never going to happen. I will never listen to a man like you."

* * *

Erak looked up as the hostages were thrust unceremoniously onto the ground beside him.

As Gilan had observed some nights earlier, he was seated on the ground, chained between two noisy, complaining camels. His face was bruised and his hair matted with dried blood. One eye was almost closed and there were whip scores on his arms and back.

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," he said cheerfully. "What brings you here, Halt?"

"We've come to rescue you," Halt told him and the Oberjarl looked quizzically at the leather bindings that secured his friends.

"You've chosen a strange way to do it," he said. Then, as he recognised Selethen, his brows contracted into an unfriendly frown. "Nice work, Wakir," he said. There was an overtone of bitterness in his voice as he held up his own manacled hands. Selethen shook his head. His own bitterness matched Erak's.

"This was not what I intended. I lost a lot of good men," he told the Skandian. Erak considered the statement for a moment, then his expression softened and he nodded. He glanced at Svengal.

"Svengal, my friend," he said, "when I told you to go and get the Araluans, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Svengal shrugged. "Don't worry, chief. We've got these Tualaghi surrounded from the inside."

"Exactly," Erak replied dryly. Then he gestured to the stony ground. "Take a seat, why don't you?" As the others sat, Evanlyn knelt beside the Oberjarl. Gently, she examined the wounds to his scalp and the massive bruise around his eye.

"Are you all right, Erak?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Oh, I'm fine. They never hurt you so badly that you can't walk. And they're treating me like an honoured guest with a handful of mouldy dates, some stale bread and a mouthful of water, then a nice walk in the sunshine. Who could ask for more?"

"Any word of Toshak so far?" Halt asked.

Erak's expression darkened. "Not by name. But that swine Yusal hinted that I'd be meeting a countryman soon and I don't think he meant you, Svengal. I can't wait. If I get a chance to get my hands on Toshak's throat, he'll wish he'd never been born." He looked up at Halt then. "Unlike you to be taken by surprise, Halt. Are you losing your edge?"

Halt raised an eyebrow at him. "From what I've heard, you didn't do so well yourself at Al Shabah," he pointed out and Erak shrugged ruefully.

"I guess we're all getting careless," he said. "Did you know May is here?" He adressed Gilan, who tensed at her name.

"I'm well aware." Gilan dryly said. Erak stared at the young ranger for a while in silence.

"Did the heat get to you? I remember you much more… Happy?" He said after a while.

"Any idea where this bunch is headed?" Gilan asked, changing the subject.

"They don't exactly consult me. I just drag along behind Matilda there." He jerked a thumb at the nearest of the two camels. "We've become quite fond of each other," he added, glaring balefully at the grumbling beast.

"Odds are we're headed for the northern massif," Selethen said and Erak looked at him with interest.

"I believe I did hear those words mentioned," he said. "Well, you'd better get some rest while you can. It's a long day when you're walking."

Horace scratched his ear, the movement made clumsy by the fact that his hands were tied together.

"What time do they feed us?" he asked. Erak looked at him for a second, then grinned.

"Don't ever change, Horace," he said.

* * *

Yusal was done with May, and he ordered some guards to take her away. Fix her. He told them. One side of her head was bleeding and several bruises where forming everywhere. May fell uncounsious a while ago, but Yusal kept going. He didn't care about the girl. She got what she deserved. He also told the guards to take a detour. Show the prisoners what happened to their friend.

So now the two guards where dragging May's uncounsious body through the camp. Careful to walk just past the prisoners, who looked up at the sight in front of them.

"Good god, what did they do to her?" Svengal asked no one in particular.

"She spoke out of term." Selethen said. "Yusal has little respect for women, and even less to those who don't listen to him." Gilan had his hands clenched in fists and was glaring at the guards who where dragging May away.

"Gilan?" Evanlyn carefully asked. "Are you allright?"

"No." Gilan shortly replied. "I'm not." With that, he turned around and didn't say another word again.

* * *

**A/N Poor May, I shouldn't be so mean to her... Nope, not going to happen.**

**Other news, I'm getting a kitten! My foster sister's, sister in law, has kittens and she's giving them away. My sister gets one, and I get one. I need a name though. I have Cheshire, Sigyn or Athena. Yes, stupid references for Alice in wonderland, Norse mythology and Greek mythology.**

Something like me: **Ooh, haha okay. Good to know. How was Berlin? Thanks for your review.**

Guest (Seth): **I want to do that too, but I can't, sadly. I think Will's up to pretty much the same. Maybe I'll post a chapter (or a part of a chapter) With him in it.**

Guest: **I'm not sure, she might, but not for now. Sorry.**

Kittyitty6: **Cool name, first of all. My school doesn't work with semesters, it's all one year, and I have to go there, from eight to for, Tuesday to Friday, and monday eight to three. I have a total of 9 free periods, including PE where I can't do anything because of my stupid knee.  
And yes it might be helpful if you read the stories before this one first. Yeah, it seems logical. Starting with three XD Don't worry I've got the same logic. I read everything at the same time. **

**Please review, you made my second day of school great! (I kept getting emails from fanfiction with your reviews :D)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Hello people! I'm back with a slightly longer chapter for you! I was ill the past two days, and I managed to break my own record in making teachers believe I'm weird.**

**Let me explain, if you don't want to know, enjoy the chapter! **

**I have a new English teacher (She's awesome. She's a fan of Sherlock. Not just the BBC series, but everything, like me) And we had a sort of reading test. We had to read a text from some British newspaper. And after five minutes we had to turn the paper around. When we did that, the teacher said we had to write down a summary, with as much information as we could remember. Well my weird brain, who remembers stuff like that very easily, but forgets other important stuff like my name, managed to remember almost every bit of information the text gave it. There where a lot if statistics in the text and I managed to remember the numbers, and the right one. So I basically rewrote everything I read in the five minutes before that... Teacher chose me to read the summary, and didn't believe I had the right numbers. She read the text and asked me to re-read the numbers I wrote down. Yes, I'm very weird. I'll shut up now.**

* * *

Chapter 7.

May woke with a pounding feeling in her head. What happened? Then it all came back to her. She groaned and sat up. May brought her hand to her head, and noticed it was bandaged. Who did that? Her question was answered soon enough.

Light poured into the tent she was in. Amir walked in with a sack of water and some new bandages.

"Oh, hey. You're alive again." He said to her. May nodded and raised an eyebrow at the fresh bandages.

"What? They have you run around as nurse too now?" She asked him.

"No one else wanted to help you. You're not exactly making friends with that grumpy attitude." Amir shrugged. "Now sit still, I need to change that."

"How long was I out?" May asked while Amir was changing the bandages.

"About two days. Yusal said we leave as soon as you're up. Good luck with that." He turned May's head to the side and looked at the wound. "It's healing good, I believe. We'd have to keep that clean, so it won't get infected. If that happens, well we'll get to that if it happens."

"How do you know all this?" May asked.

"I wanted to be a doctor when I wasn't involved in all… this." Amir explained.

"Okay, wait did you say two days?" May asked him. Amir nodded and hummed in response. "What did I miss?"

"Not much. Camp's a bit tiled up due to those new prisoners. Some are really pissed because they lost a friend to those arrows. They've been acting out on those two. The knight's a drama queen. The two Skandians are looking for Toshak, who went ahead to Maashava. The girl's pretty much untouched." Amir explained.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something, or missing something." May said.

"Side effect. Yusal has a temper, if he loses it, he doesn't stop." Amir said. "And you're missing coffee." He grinned and handed her a cup.

"Much better." She sighed. They both drank in silence.

"How bad?" If they weren't in complete silence, Amir would have missed it.

"I'm sorry what?" He asked.

"How bad is it. I mean with the prisoners." She asked again.

"Why would you care?" He bluntly said.

"Because I knew them. I don't know how, but I do. I knew that knight. And those archers, who are actually rangers I believe. I know the Skandians, but I've never been to Skandia. The girl's familiar too, but I can't remember any of them. It's like walking in fog, and trying to see what's behind it." May told him.

"O-kay, I think I need to re-check that headwound." Amir said, he stretched out his arm to unwrap the new bandages, but May caught it before it reached her.

"This isn't a joke, I'm not crazy." She said to him. May put her now empty cup next to her and got off the bed. She ignored every attempt of Amir to keep her in the tent and went outside. She vaguely noticed she didn't wear her cloak, which she nearly always did, and looked around. She almost immediatly noticed the two large men in the middle, and carefully walked towards them.

They looked awful. Beat up and worn out. May bit her lip and turned around, hoping they wouldn't notice her.

"May?" It had been the tall ranger, the one she nearly killed. May closed her eyes and tensed at his voice. Her head hurt, where did she know him from.

"May, please just turn around." The ranger said.

"Gil, it's not going to work. She made it very clear she doesn't know you." The other one said. May inhaled sharply and turned around. She put on an emotionless face.

"What do you want?" She asked, angrier than she meant.

"For you to know me." May's eyes widened.

"I do, wait no I don't. I- who are you?" She stammered.

"Greensworth." Another voice barked. May turned around to see Yusal behind her. "Get over here. NOW!" He yelled at her. May bowed a little and walked to him.

"Don't let me ever catch you talking to those men again. If I do, you'll join them, after I give you something worse than a headache." Yusal raged against her. "Understood?"

"Understood." May said, not wanting to let Yusal lose his temper again.

"We're leaving." He shouted to the rest of the camp. He narrowed his eyes at May one last time before he left. May let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Amir handed her her cloak, and she thanked him. She looked over her soulder to the six strangers, before she walked away while pulling on her cloak. She pulled up the hood, to cover her head.

She made her way to Hunter as quickly as she could. Without a word to anyone around her, she took his reins and rode off. Getting ahead of the group behind her.

* * *

Later, after they didn't stop at the midhour, because Yusal said May already wasted enough time, May was riding at the back of the group. A little behind the prisoners. She watched them, but didn't speak. May tried to recall where she knew them from, so far no luck.

"Well this is going to be fun." The tall ranger suddenly spoke, pulling May out of her thoughts. She heard that before. She knew she did, but where?

* * *

_"This is going to be fun." Gilan said, and Will nodded. Horace offered May his hand and helped her get up._

_"Thanks." She said to him. _

_"Last round." Said Will._

_"Who ever wins, is the winner, but you both put up a good fight." Gilan said._

_They both nodded and got back to their places across each other. May was holding two wooden knives, and Horace a wooden sword. Neither of the two was making any attacks. In the corner of her eye, May saw Will nearly losing his patience again. Quite funny. Then Horace attacked. Overhand swing. May dodged it and snuck around him. She used her knee to bring him to the ground, but with impressive speed and strength he turned around. Swinging his sword with him._

_She can't block it, so May dropped to hands and feet. Horace stumbled because Horace's sword doesn't hit anything, and May saw her chance. She jumped up and hit him in his flank. He cringed, but regained his postition before she could do anything else._

_"So you've learned." May said with a smirk._

_"So have you I see, no more distractions from an impatient Will?" He said back. So he saw it too. Good. May charged at him and he jumped aside, exactly how May pictured it. She stopped, turned around and hit him on his fingers with her saxe knife. With a cry of pain he dropped his makeshift sword. He bended over to get it. That was a mistake. May quickly made her way behind him and pushed him to the ground. He fell, but rolled over and got back up. _

_Damn. _

_He picked up his sword in the proces. She's got to think of a plan. May looked behind him and saw a tree behind him. There where a few loose roots at the base of it. That'll do. she charged at him again, and just before she reached him, May stopped. She tried to hit him with her saxe knife again, and he stumbled backwards. May repeated this untill he's right in front of the tree. With one last attack he fell backwards and stumbled over the roots of the tree. He falls and May stands._

_"May wins!" Shouted Will happily. May reached forward and offered Horace her hand._

_"Still think I'm not capable of anything?" She asked him. He grabed her hand and May pulled him up._

_"No you showed me more than once, you're capable." He said while blushing a little._

_"Good, now never, not ever forget that." May turned around and walked back to Gilan and Will, who was jumping up and down from excitement._

_"How did you do that with your knives, when Horace Swung his sword at you, and then you did something and you just blocked it, just like that. How?" He asked. May laughed._

_"Ask him, he taught me." She said. "I heard something about twenty coffee beans Will?" May said with a wolfish grin. Wills face fell and he went to his saddle bag, no doubt to find the lost beans. _

_"I knew you could do it." Gilan said._

* * *

May shook her head and looked at the people in front of her. The tall ranger, who she still didn't know the name of. Had seen a guard coming towards them with a very angry expression. No doubt that he wanted to have some _fun. _

May scowled and looked away. So she had been travelling with them… Well with the tall ranger, the knight and some other guy. He wasn't here. Where was he then? May thought to herself. Is he dead? She wondered, he would be here if he wasn't. The missing boy was the same as the one she saw in her memory on the ship. At least he looked like him.

Who are all those people?

* * *

Finally it was time to stop for the night. May rushed to a place where she set up her tent in record time. It was near an oasis, so she got some water for Hunter, and for herself. She glanced at the prisoners, and noticed they didn't get any water. They haven't gotten any since she was awake.

May looked around to see if she saw Yusal. When she didn't, May got three water sacks, and filled them up. When all three where full, May sneaked towards the prisoners, making sure no one saw her. The long shadows of the sand dunes helped a lot with that. The biggest part of the camp was in the shadow of one.

When she got to the prisoners, she stepped out of the shadows, scaring four of them. Only the two rangers didn't move. She handed the water to the knight, the wakir and the skandians.

"Sorry, I only have four sacks." May softly said. "I still don't remember you, but no water in the desert is torture. Make sure they don't see you with it." She nodded to the thualaghi. May bit her lip and looked around again. When she saw no one looking at her, she looked at the two rangers.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Halt, and that's Gilan. You used to be a ranger like us. His apprentice to be exact." The short one said. The tall one, Gilan she presumed, just stared at her with a hurt expression.

"No, I've never been a ranger. They're from Auraluen, right? I've never been there." May quickly replied. "I couldn't have been."

May noticed a noise behind her, and saw Yusal. May growled lowly and quickly flew off as a raven. If she stayed any longer, she would have been caught. May flew up higher, and decided to fly around the area for a while.

* * *

"Oh, glorious water." Horace said after he drank some. He passed the sack to Evanlyn and sighed. When one of the water sacks got to Gilan, he declined it and passed it to Svengal.

"No, you've got to drink at least something." Svengal said to him.

"Not thirsty." Gilan shortly replied. With that he turned around and hid in his cloak.

"Gilan, stop it. Stop acting like this." Halt finally snapped. "Stop punishing yourself for something that wasn't your fault. Somehow, don't ask me how, the person who got a hold of her, altered her memories. Can't you see that. It's not your fault she doesn't remember you. She said she had never been to Auraluen, well she lived there. Two years with her family, and three with you. Someone played with her mind Gil, it's not May anymore. She's trapped in her own mind."

"But it is my fault. I got her kidnapped to Hallasholm, where she got tortured, I didn't do anything when I noticed something was wrong with her. I was too happy she was back again. I didn't follow her when she ran away. I didn't look for her. I just gave up. Everything is my fault. And I-" His sentence was cut short by a stinging feeling in his face.

Evanlyn had calmly stood up a few moments ago, walked to him, and smacked him across his face.

"Would you please stop rambling. Seriously, you're worse than Will." She calmly said to him. "I'm about to tell you something I swore I wouldn't ever tell to anyone. You in particular." Evanlyn sat down, still as calm as she was and started talking.

"When I was hiding in the mountains with Will, when he was addicted to warmweed, May would visit to see if we where okay. She'd bring some food with her, or some warmweed, if we ran out. We'd usually talk, about what was going on in Hallasholm, and very rarely news about home when she picked that up." Evanlyn explained.

"One time we talked about you." She pointed to Gilan, who raised his eyebrows. "Yes you, she was head over heels for you, what did you expect."

* * *

"_Can I ask you something May?" Evanlyn asked. The two of them sat outside the cabin surrounded by snow. They both had a nice hot cup of coffee. Well May had coffee, Evanlyn had hot chocolate._

"_Sure." The older girl said. "You can always ask, if I answer is something else." She grinned at evanlyn, who childishly stuck her tongue out to May. The two teens laughed together after that._

"_Do you love Gilan?" Evanlyn asked after they both stopped laughing. May froze and carefully sipped her coffee._

"_Why do you ask?" May asked in return after a short silence._

"_Because I could see he loves you in Celtica. I was wondering if you did too." She shrugged. "Hey, no avoiding my question."_

"_Fine, yes I do love him." May turned red and looked away. "I was affraid to admit it, because everyone I love dies." She nearly whispered the last part._

"_Wait, die? What made you think _that." _Evanlyn asked her._

"_I lost everyone so far I cared about. My parents, my brother, my friends. They all die, and most of those times it's because of me. Or because of what we are." May explained. "I just don't want to lose him, ever. If I don't get home in time, I'm affraid that I will."_

"_Well he's an idiot to let go of someone like you if you ask me." Evanlyn grinned. May smiled back, but her face fell soon after that._

"_If I know Gilan, which I think I do, he'll probably blame himself for everything. That's why I don't blame him. There was nothing he could do about it. He chose right to ride back to Auraluen, and Will chose right to chase the Wargals. We had some bad luck at the bridge, but that's it. If there's anyone to blame it's me, I made a mistake at the bridge and I wasn't fast enough." May explained._

"_He shouldn't blame himself, and you shouldn't blame yourself either, without you Will and I hadn't even made it to this cabin. You didn't make a mistake on the bridge, there's nothing you could have done to save us." Evanlyn said. _

"_Thanks." Was everything May could say. "If you ever tell Gilan about this, I will kill you." She later added with no signs that she didn't mean it._

* * *

Evanlyn finished her story and looked directly at Gilan. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He noticed the red substance on his hand, but wiped it off. Gilan knew it was a small cut, and that it wasn't very serious.

"Did she really-?" He asked. Evanlyn nodded and Gilan sighed again.

"You do know May's going to kill you if she finds out you told him, right?" Horace eventually spoke up. Evanlyn glared at him, and he shrugged. "Just saying."

**A/N I hope you liked it! I'm going to reply to reviews now, and then I'm off to get Cheshire. My cat \(^-^)/**

Guest: **I thought so too, but the kitten's striped like Cheshire, so I chose that name. Thanks for your review. I'm excited for the rest of this story too. Especially when they're in Maashava. *Grins evilly* What will happen there... mwuhahahahahaha... **

**(Sorry for that, the evil author part of myself escaped it's cage. I should fix that...)**

Guest(Seth): **Well thank you. It does make sense. A lot actually, but then it would turn out like this:**

**May walked to the entrance of the tent and shoved the flappy thingy, the fabric thing that blocks the exit, or serves as a door, aside.  
**

**Not a good idea, I think. It did help me a little, when I knew the word I wanted to use. Thanks for that!**

Something like me: **It's not wrong at all. It means you have an evil side too. :D That's great. I was grinning when I wrote that part.**

**Review! It makes me happy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Hello my lovely readers. I was going to post this yesterday, but I started watching game of thrones. Enough said. *Ahem* one season in two days *Ahem*  
And my cat's acting like a cat. It's on my keyboard all the time. She's like nine weeks old, and fits in two hands, but she still manages to occupy an entire keyboard...**

Chapter 8.

When May landed, Yusal was waiting for her. He didn't seem happy either. May landed and ignored the man waiting for her. She walked straight past him and made her way to hunter.

"You gave them water." It wasn't a question. May nodded with her back to him, and kept searching through her bags. "You went against my orders."

"I was not going to let them die." May furiously said as she turned around to glare at Yusal. "Leaving someone in a desert without water is against those laws you have, and yet you're not giving any to your prisoners."

"What _I _do with _my _prisoners is none of your concern. I told you not to talk to them. And yet you did." Yusal spat at her.

"I did not speak to them. I merely gave them water." May objected. She turned around again and continued to search through her bags. "And I'm not someone who enjoys torture. So I gave them water. That's it." She found what she was looking for and stormed past Yusal to her tent with her violin in her hands.

* * *

Her tent was, ironically, close to the six newcomers. May grimaced and sat next to a fire close to her tent. She stroke all four strings and winced at how false it was. Must have been the heat. She sighed and started to tune the instrument. When it finally sounded right again, May smiled a little.

"Is that a smile?" A very familiar voice taunted.

"Yes, Amir, it was." May pulled her face back in it's usual mask. "Was, not is."

"I never thought you could smile." He grinned at her. "Oh you have someone watching you." He pointed at the tall ranger behind her. May looked over her shoulder and the man looked away.

"I'd say he's got a thing for you." Amir mocked. "That, or he wants to kill you."

"He doesn't have a thing for me. And I tried to kill him, so that's probably it." May didn't mention she knew them. She lied to him, like she lied to herself. She didn't know them.

"Probably. Can you play me a song? I want to know if you're really as good as you think you are." Amir said to her.

"Oh, you don't think I'm good enough?" May stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"No, that's not what I meant. I made a joke…" His voice faltered at the end. "You where joking." May finally let out a laugh.

"You are too gullible. You make it too easy." May said. She grinned and started playing. It was a sad, but sweet melody that wasn't too slow, but also not too fast. It has been a while since she played it. At base camp in Gallica she usually would play every night, but at the skandian ship, it wasn't very appreciated. She didn't get the chance to in the desert either, this was the first time in weeks that she played.

"I take it back. You are better than you think you are." Amir said when May finished her song.

* * *

Gilan was looking at May. He has been doing that for a while now, and Horace started to worry.

"Are you alright?" He silently asked him. Gilan briefly glanced at him, before turning back to May. She appeared to be talking to one of the Tualaghi. At one moment she laughed, but they couldn't hear what they where talking about.

"I'm fine." Gilan shortly said.

"No you're not. We all can see it." Horace relpied. "You act like you don't care, but we can all see that you do."

"See what?" Svengal suddenly spoke up. Gilan raised an eyebrow at Horace who sighed in response.

"Most of us can see it then. I can see that you care, and that's saying something. Just tell us what; s wrong, and we can help you?" Horace pleaded.

"Help me? _You _can help _me._" Gilan turned around and stood up so he was looking down on Horace. "How on earth can you help me. We're prisoners to a cruel tribe, who plans to take over Skandia. May, who I thought _loved _me, tried to kill me. She doesn't know any of us, except vague and unclear things. Like someone you once passed in a market. How can you help?" When Horace didn't answer Gilan sat back down, with his back turned to the rest of the group. "That's what I thought."

* * *

The three-day march to Maashava hadn't been a pleasant one. The six of them had been led on long ropes tied to the saddles of their guards, forced to jog awkwardly in order to keep up. If anyone fell, and inevitably they did, since they were kept off balance by having their hands tied together in front of them â he was immediately surrounded by riders jabbing with lance points or striking down at them with the butts of their spears.

After a few kilometres, Halt noticed that the riders of the horses they were tied to were expert at sudden, unexpected changes of pace or direction, calculated to throw the prisoners off balance so that they would fall.

Evanlyn was the exception. As Selethen had predicted, the Tualaghi saw her as an investment to be protected and she suffered none of this brutality. She was even given a small horse to ride, although her hands remained bound and the horse was led by a Tualaghi warrior, constantly on the alert for any sign that she might try to escape.

The two Rangers got the worst. They were foreigners and so regarded with contempt by the Tualaghi. Worse, their uncanny accuracy during the brief attack had made them hated men. Most of the Tualaghi had at least one friend who had suffered at the wrong end of a Ranger arrow and the two longbows carried by Halt and Gilan marked them out as the culprits. Both men were bruised and battered by the time they reached Maashava. Halt's left cheek was a massive bruise and the eye was nearly closed, courtesy of a Tualaghi fist. Gilan had bled profusely from a head wound inflicted by a small club. The crusted blood matted his hair and face.

It seemed that the presence of the two Rangers diverted the Tualaghi's attention from their original victim Erak. He and Svengal were generally left alone, aside from the almost casual beating with spear butts when they slipped and fell. Selethen also fared better than the others. Yusal knew his value as a hostage, whereas the Araluans were an unknown quantity in that area.

Horace, fit, athletic and light on his feet, gave their guards the fewest opportunities to beat him, although on one occasion an angry Tualaghi, furious that Horace misunderstood an order to kneel, slashed his dagger across the young man's face, opening a thin, shallow cut on his right cheek. The wound was superficial but as Evanlyn treated it that evening, Horace shamelessly pretended that it was more painful than it really was. He enjoyed the touch of her ministering hands. Halt and Gilan, bruised and weary, watched as she washed the wound and gently patted it dry. Horace did a wonderful job of pretending to bear great pain with stoic bravery. Halt shook his head in disgust.

"What a faker," he said to Gilan. The younger Ranger merely nodded.

"I wonder what that's like." Gilan nodded at Evanlyn and Horace. Halt's one good eye glared round at him. Muttering under his breath, the grey-haired Ranger shuffled away a few paces.

"Young men!" he snorted to Erak. "They think a pretty face can cure every ill."

"Some of us can remember back that far, Halt," Erak told him with a grin. "I suppose that's all far behind an old hack like you. Svengal told me you were settling down. Some plump, motherly widow seizing her last chance with a broken-down old greybeard, is she?" Erak, of course, had been told by Svengal that Halt had recently married a great beauty. But he enjoyed getting a reaction from the smaller man. Halt's one-eyed stare locked onto the Oberjarl.

"When we get back, I'd advise you not to refer to Pauline as a "plump, motherly widow" in her hearing. She's very good with the dagger she carries and you need your ears to keep that ridiculous helmet of yours in place."

* * *

Now the joking was stilled as they stumbled into Maashava at the end of an exhausting day's march. The Arridi townspeople looked at the new arrivals with dull, uninterested eyes. They had no sympathy for the prisoners. The Tualaghi's invasion of their town would leave them penniless and hungry. It would take several seasons to replace the food and other provisions that the invaders were helping themselves to. The town was in shadow, as the sun was now hidden behind the high cliffs. They were led through the main square, where the market was held, to one of the warehouse caves at the rear of the town. The long lead ropes were removed and their hands were untied.

"Looks like we've arrived at wherever we're going," Horace said. A Tualaghi cursed him and told him to hold his foreign tongue. The prisoners were shoved unceremoniously into the empty warehouse and a guard was mounted outside the entrance. A few minutes later, food, water and blankets were brought to the captives. Then the outer door was slammed shut and locked and they were left alone.

"So what happens now?" Horace wondered aloud.

* * *

He didn't have to wonder long. Less than an hour later, they heard the rattle of a key in the lock and the door swung open. It was now full dark outside and the interior was lit by the single candle. In the doorway, they could Just make out a dim, bulky figure. Then he shoved through the narrow door, having to turn sideways to do so, and strode into the centre of the large room they were in. A half dozen armed Tualaghi followed him, fingering the hilts of their curved swords, looking around the room, alert for any sign of rebellion from the prisoners. Finally, Yusal entered as well. But none of the prisoners had eyes for him. They were all watching the heavily built, bearded Skandian who had led the way into their cell. And what they didn't notice at all, was the black raven hidden in the shadows of the windowframe. Everyone but Halt missed her. He nodded to the raven discreetly, so no one would notice it except her.

"Toshak!" Svengal said. Angrily, he started to rise from the sand floor of the cave. Immediately, three of the Tualaghi drew their swords and the familiar, warning shriiinnng noise rang through the cave. Erak's hand shot out and gripped Svengal's forearm, forcing him back down.

"Sit easy, Svengal," he said. "Can't you see he wants an excuse to kill you?"

"Very astute, Erak," the renegade replied. His voice was surprisingly smooth and well modulated for a Skandian. Most were seamen and used to having to bellow above storm and wind. Toshak gestured to the guards and the swords were returned to their scabbards. Yusal, his lower face still shrouded by the blue veil, watched the interplay between the two big men, his head moving from one to the other, his dark eyes unblinking. The raven had dissappeared, but May was still in the shadows of the room, watching what was going to happen. Like a hawk, Halt thought. Then he amended the concept. Or a vulture.

"So, Toshak, you're finally showing your face. I thought you'd turn out to be the cowardly traitor behind all this." Erak's voice was even and controlled. But he couldn't match the smoothness of his enemy's delivery.

Toshak smiled. "As I say, Oberjarl, very astute. But of course, anyone can be clever in hindsight. It's a pity you didn't show such keen perception a little earlier. You might have avoided my trap. You hardly gain any credit for saying "I knew it was you all along" when I walk into the room, do you?"

"Whether I knew or not, the fact remains, you're a traitor. And you deserve to die."

"Well, yes. But of course, one man's traitor is another man's patriot, as they say. And I'm afraid any dying is going to be done by you."

"Which means you'll lose the ransom money," Halt interrupted. He looked at the Tualaghi leader. "How does your comrade in arms feel about that? Do you want to give up sixty thousand reels of silver, Yusal?" The Tualaghi stepped forward, his eyes blazing with anger. He measured himself against the Ranger, and glared down at the shorter man. His finger jabbed Halt in the chest, emphasising his words.

"You do not call me Yusal!" he snapped. "You address me as Aseikh Yusal or as Excellence. Do you understand me, you insolent foreigner?" Halt cocked his head to one side, considering the question, even though it had been rhetorical.

"What I understand," he said, "is that there is very little about you that is excellent and that Aseikh is a term of honour. There's nothing honourable in a man who hides his face behind a blue woman's hanky." The fury flared more brightly in Yusal's eyes. Halt was watching them carefully. He always watched an enemy's eyes and, in Yusal's case, they were the only feature visible.

As Yusal swung his fist backhanded at him, Halt was ready. He swayed slightly to his right and the blow passed by harmlessly. Yusal, expecting to meet resistance, staggered with the follow-through. May silently shifted to fox, preparing to attack. Burning with fury, Yusal stepped closer to Halt to strike at him again. Toshak raised his hand to stop him.

"Wait!" he said. He peered more closely at Halt, studying the swollen, bruised face. "You're the Ranger, aren't you? Halt. That's your name! I remember hearing about you now. You made trouble in Skandia three years ago and now you're here. You just get in the way on every continent, don't you? And I suppose that's the other one who was in Skandia with you?" May relaxed slightly, and stared at the people before her. He gestured to Gilan. Truth be told, Toshak had never seen either Ranger. He simply knew that Halt's assistant had been a younger man.

"Actually ... " Gilan began. But Halt cut him off.

"That's right," he said quickly. Gilan looked at him, a little surprised. But he said nothing further. Toshak turned to Yusal now.

"These are the archers? The ones who killed so many?" he said. The Tualaghi nodded.

"My men wanted to kill them. But they might be worth a ransom." Toshak shook his head.

"Nobody will pay to have them back," he said. "Rangers are troublemakers. And they're dangerous. Best they're killed as soon as possible." May growled lowly, cutting it off as soon as she noticed it. Yusal stared in her direction, but didn't do anything… yet.

"I can ransom them!" Evanlyn said in the deathly silence that fell over the room. "I'm a... diplomat. I'm close to the King of Araluen. I can arrange to have a large ransom paid for these men." Toshak eyed her curiously. He hadn't actually been present in Hallasholm during the war with the Temujai. But he had heard tales of what had taken place: wild stories about a girl who had been with the Rangers, a high-ranking Araluan girl. It could be this one, he thought. Then he shrugged; her identity was immaterial. What was important was what had been found in her belongings.

"You'll do that anyway," he said. "Whether we kill them or not." Evanlyn opened her mouth to argue, then stopped as she saw what he was holding: the draft for the Silasian Council.

"It's worthless without a seal," she told him.

"But you know where to find one, don't you?" he asked. Evanlyn met his gaze, unflinchingly. Just before they had surrendered, she had hidden the seal under a rock outcrop in the saucer-shaped depression. She was glad now that she had done so. She said nothing, not trusting her voice. Toshak nodded. Her silence confirmed his suspicion. He turned to Yusal.

"Aseikh Yusal, how would you convince this girl to find the seal she appears to have misplaced?" Yusal's eyes crinkled and the veil moved slightly over his face. Evanlyn realised he was smiling. The Tualaghi had watched the captives closely all the way to Maashava. He hadn't missed the byplay between the girl and the young warrior. He pointed to Horace now.

"If we began to peel the skin from this one, I think she might remember," he said. He chuckled. His harsh, unpleasant voice made it an ugly sound. Evanlyn froze, looking helplessly at Horace. She knew she would never stand by and see him tortured. But if she made out the warrant, they would all die anyway.

"Toshak?" It was Svengal, his voice soft and questioning. The rebel Skandian looked at him, his eyebrows raised. Svengal continued. "How about you and me, we have a little wrestle together? Just for fun."

"Fun?" repeated Toshak.

Svengal smiled winningly. "Yes. I think it would be such fun to tear that ugly head off your shoulders. And your beaky, blue-faced friend's, too." He spat the last words out, switching his glare to Yusal. Toshak raised an eyebrow.

"You should have kept your mouth shut, Svengal. I might have let you live. But now I see how determined you are, well …" He paused, looking around the tense group who faced him. "Let's just recap where we stand, shall we?" he said. He indicated Selethen.

"The Wakir is going to be ransomed. He gets off lightly but I have no argument with him. On the other hand, I do have one with Erak and Svengal, so they're going to die. You two Rangers as well." He pointed at Horace next. "You're going to have your skin peeled and the young lady here is going to pay us a large amount of money for the privilege of listening to your screams." He smiled around at them all. "Have I missed anyone?" The smile disappeared. He jerked his head at Yusal and the two of them turned. Then the Tualaghi leader, struck by a thought, stopped and turned back. He held up his left hand as if asking for their attention and moved back towards them.

"There was one more thing," he said. Then he spat an order to his guards and two of them gripped Halt by the arms, forcing him forward and down until he was on his knees in front of Yusal. The Tualaghi Aseikh then rained closed-fist blows on Halt's face, left and right, striking again and again until the Ranger's face was cut and bleeding and his head lolled to one side. Toshak watched, amused. Erak started to move forward to intervene but the point of a sabre in his belly stopped him. Finally, Yusal stepped back, breathing heavily.

"Let him go," he told the men holding Halt. They released him and he crumpled to the sand, face down and semi-conscious.

"Not so light on your feet now, are you?" Toshak said to the slumped figure. Out of nowhere, it seemed, a slender white wolf jumped out of the shadows. Pinning the large skandian down. It growled in his face, before it was yanked off of him. Yusal had grabbed the wolf by it's neck and held it up. Cutting off the air to her lungs.

"I knew you where going to do that, little one. But this is one mistake too many." He tightened his grip on her troath. Running out of air, May was forced to shift back to human. Her hands where at her throat, desperately trying to get Yusal's hand off her. "You may think you can play me, but you're wrong. Your master can't protect you here. You're forgetting that one thing-" He was cut off by someone kicking him in the ribs. Yusal dropped May, who lost consiousness when she landed, and turned to his new attacker. It was the young ranger. Yusal grinned behind his veil.

"Fine, have it your way. When she wakes up. Tell her I said hi." He snapped his fingers and one of the guards handed him May's violin. The strings where snapped, and the wood cut open.

"And that she should never use that contraption she calls an instrument again. It sounded horrible." Toshak added. Yusal uttered a short bark of laughter and together they turned and left the room. The guards, hands on their weapons, backed out after them, slamming the door. In the ensuing silence, the prisoners heard the key rattle in the lock.

Gilan let go a deep, pent-up breath and moved quickly to kneel beside his semi-conscious friend. Telling Horace to help May. Gently, he rolled Halt over and began cleaning the mixture of sand and blood from his face. Evanlyn joined him, her hands light and delicate. Svengal brought over the water skin that had been left with them and handed it to Evanlyn. He watched as she gently washed Halt's face. Horace was worried. He looked over his shoulder to Halt. He had never seen Halt defeated before. Halt was always in control of the situation. Halt always knew what to do next. Gilan nodded to Evanlyn and rushed to May, taking her over from Horace.

"I think we're in big trouble," he said. Then they all started as Halt moved, raising his hand and trying to sit up. Evanlyn held him down and he stopped his efforts. But he spoke, his voice thick and somewhat slurred by his swollen mouth and face.

"They're forgetting one thing," he said. There was a light of defiance in his one good eye. The other was now completely closed. The others all exchanged a glance. They could see no positive side to their predicament.

"And what might that be, Halt?" Evanlyn asked him, willing to humour him. Halt caught the tone in her voice and glared at her. Then he said, with some force:

"Will's still out there somewhere."

* * *

**A/N So that's that. Long chapter. 7 pages. Anyway, I'm still ill. haha that rhymes. And if my cat allows it, I will update again soon. So I hereby humbly beg my cat for mercy.**

Kittyitty6: **I'm so sorry, I forgot to reply to your review last time. Let me do that now. Thanks for your review. I still have to do PE. I just don't have to do the same things the others do. What I have to do is stretching and basic dance exercises. Starting with the lost stories is sort of the worst thing to do. Spoilers. Spoilers everywhere!**

Something like me: **Thanks for your review. Maybe everyone has an evil side... It was indeed a long time ago, and I thought it would be fun to do some memories again. I hope you liked this chapter, she'll wake up next chapter, and then all hell's going to break loose...**

Occea: **I have no idea what kind of cat it is. She's black with dark brown stripes you can barely see. She's a cure kitten? As for Alex, you'll have to wait and find out. I was planning to answer that in my previous story, but I couldn't find a way to do it. I now know how I can answer that, but you'll have to wait and find out. Sorry.**

**Please review! There's not much else I can do now except watching series and reading reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N MY CAT ALLOWED ME TO UPDATE! Isn't that nice? Anyway, lots of memories in this chapter, and a pissed off May to begin with, and a pissed off Gilan to end with ;)**

* * *

Chapter 9.

May woke up about an hour later. Her eyes shot open and she jumped up, not saying a word. She felt her head for a moment and saw her hand came back with blood on it. She swore in an unknown language, probably Gallican, and wiped her hand clean. She looked around with a frown. Still not saying anything she walked to the door.

"Don't bother, it's locked." Gilan said to her. She turned around to glare at him. She shook her head and got to the door. Like Gilan said, it was locked. May swore again and stated hitting the door.

"Let me out of here." She yelled. "If you don't let me out right now, I will unleash hell on you. I will take my sword and shove it where the sun don't shine!" She started to kick the door. "You will die, slowly and painfully. I will not hesitate, and you'll regret that you didn't let me out."

"May it's no use." Horace said to her. "They're not going to let you out."

"Then I'll let myself out." She replied angrily. She moved away from the door and to the small window. She had to stand on her toes to reach it. May shifted to raven and flew to the window. When she got there, she saw the net spanned in front of it.

"They thought of that. There's no way out May. Just give it up." Halt said. May shifted back and landed on the floor. She sat down with her back to the wall and her cowl pulled up. The room was silent again. May sighed and looked up to who was in there with her. She tried to remember them, but she couldn't. Only now she noticed her violin lying on the floor. She quickly stood up and ran to it.

"No, no no no no." She ranted as she carefully picked the instrument up. "No!" She shouted. Tears streaming down her face. She didn't notice Gilan getting up, and she didn't notice him getting closer until his arms where around her. She tried to get out of his embrace, but she didn't have the strength to fight him off. So she just sat there. Hugging a man she thought she didn't know.

* * *

It's been another hour of silence, and May was trying to fix her violin. She unwrapped the strings, and put them next to each other. She had eight half strings, a cut up bow, and a half destroyed resonance box. She sighed and frowned. She pulled her hair out of the way and got a small knife from the back of her neck.

"Where'd you hide that?" Horace asked as soon as he saw the blade.

"Near my collar under my hair. You'd be surprised how little of my knives they found." She continued to pull out knives from as it seemed, nowhere. Two from her boots. One of her back, and one from her side, just above her waist. Making the total five.

"They took my swords and bow, that's a pity." She muttered. "If I'm not mistaken they didn't- ah!" She pulled two pins from her hair, and it fell down from it's bun. She ran her hands trough the curls, and put the two pins with the knives.

"Those are a lot of pointy things." Erak said. "Still fighting, like always May."

"What do you mean, like always. Please don't tell me you know me too." She snapped. A long silence followed.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry okay? I just don't know what's going on, if I know you or not, and I'm angry because I just lost the last thing I got from my mother." She softly said. She shook her head, and picked up one of the pins. She turned the resonance box around and looked for the inscription.

"Your mother gave it to you?" Gilan asked.

"Yes, she gave it to me, just before she died." May said quietly. She took one of her knives, and cut off a part of her cloak. "Do you have any water left?" Horace nodded and handed her the water skin.

"Your _mother_ gave it to you. Is that what you remember?" Gilan asked her softly. May nodded and started to unwind the bandage around her head.

"Hey princess, can you help me for a moment?" May asked Evanlyn.

"Who me?" Evanlyn asked.

"No your knight in shining armor." May sarcastically said. "Can you look at my head and see if that stupid wound reopened?"

"Uh, sure." Evanlyn said. She sat next to May and washed away the blood on the side of her head. "What happened?"

"I talked to you. I guess I can't get into more trouble now, so I'm not going to ignore you anymore." May explained.

"Well I don't think it's infected. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure." Evanlyn said. May nodded and thanked her. She took the piece she tore from her cloak and wrapped it around her head. She tied it off and turned back to her violin. She started to take to rough edges off of it, but stopped after a while.

"If I knew you, and I'm saying if. How did I know you?" May eventually asked. She put down her knife and looked at the six before her.

"I once knocked you out on a ship right before a storm. Erak and I took you to Skandia as slaves, and later brought you back to Auraluen." Svengal started, he soon noticed May picking up one of the knives. "Before you throw the pointy thing, we left on good terms."

"Okay, I won't trow." May answered.

* * *

_"Svengal! knock the girl out and tie the three of them around the mast." Erak said._

_"Wait what?" May asked. "Knock who out?"_

_In the corner of her eye she saw Svengal coming for her. she quickly ducked and slipped around him. She ran and climbed as quickly as she could into the mast. _

_"Listen girl, I don't have time for this. Come down now!" Erak shouted. From up here she could see the stormclouds building at the horizon. she gulped and slowly got back down. She walked up to Erak._

_"You're right, there is a storm coming." she told him. "But I don't want to be-" she didn't get any further and everything went black._

* * *

"Like Svengal said, we took you to Skandia. I left you with lady Freya, a shapeshifter like yourself. she taught you a bit about it, then you got kidnapped by your friend, Alex, who as it turns out, only worked for someone so his family wouldn't get killed." Svengal said.

* * *

"_Oh, that's… Great May. Really great. I'm happy for you." Alex told her._

"_I can hear your voice you know. You're not happy at all. Why? What's going on?" she asked him_

"_Not here." He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside. Outside it's so cold she could see her own breath._

"_What's this about?" she asked him._

"_Look I don't want to do this, but I kind of don't have a choice. I thought I would have more time, but I don't. Please don't hate me after this." Alex said after a while._

"_What are you tal-" Without any notice, Alex hit her in the head with a piece of wood he was hiding next to the door. The last thing she saw is the floor coming to her fast. Then everything went black once again._

* * *

"Alex. I know that name." May muttered. "Uh, black hairm green eyes, tall and too skinny?"

"Yes that's him." Erak said proudly. "He went to Auraluen with you. I heard he started an inn there."

"He did." Halt said. "I know you through the ranger corps, and Gilan here. You where his apprentice, and he was mine before he finished his training. You, Gilan, Will and I tracked down two Kalkara and killed them."

* * *

"_the kalkara? I thought they died a long time ago." Baron arald said to the two youngsters in front of him._

"_No sir, there are two left. Halt said we should meet him at the ruins of Gorlan. The Kalkara made that their nest or something." Will said._

"_you can stop with the sir will, it makes me feel old." Arald said with a smile._

"_but you are…" May shut her mouth before she said something really rude._

"_uhm Arald? I think the kalkara might not be after the king." Will quietly said._

"_why, who are they after then Will?" Arald aksed._

"_I think they might be after Halt. You told me he led the horsemen over the river. Morgarath might want him out of the way." Will replied._

"_I think you're right. Get some sleep. We leave at dawn." Arald nodded and the two apprentices left the room._

* * *

"Will… He's not here, is he?" May asked Halt.

"No, he's… somewhere else." Halt vaguely said.

"What about you two?" She asked Evanlyn and Horace. "How do I know you two?"

"Well, you sort of kicked my ass in the first week we met. I thought you couldn't handle yourself because you where a girl." Horace replied with an awkward grin. "After that, I didn't question you again. I went with Halt to find you in Skandia."

"I remember that. Will lost twenty coffee beans in that, right?" May asked him. Horace nodded.

"You know me on that same trip. I was travelling north, back to Auraluen. We where stuck in Hallasholm, before you helped Will and I escape as slaves." Evanlyn said.

* * *

_Just a moment later she saw two figures coming towards her. As soon as she recognized one as Evanlyn she rushed forward and helped her with Will. She nodded to her, but didn't speak. It's too dangerous. No one should hear them. She lead them through the small streets, half dragging Will with her. He's really out of it. _

_He doesn't see, yet his eyes where open. He doesn't hear, or at least responds to anything told to him. He doesn't really walk, it's more like doddering. When they where finally out of the city and near the pony. May spoke._

"_Evanlyn thank god you're okay." She told the small blonde. "I wish I could say the same thing about Will. I should've put up a fight to stay with you. I should have never left you."_

"_No you shouldn't." She replied coldly. "Look let's just get to that cabin, and you can keep going with your great life full of magic and all that kind of damned things." May narrowed her eyes at her as she put Will on the horse._

"_Excuse me? My great life? I had to give up everything to come here. I left people behind too, in Auraluen. People I love. How would you know. You're the kings little girl. Nothing more than a spoiled brat who thought it would be fun to go on an adventure." She spat at her. She took the reighns of the horse and lead it to the trail. It started to snow. Great, that'll cover their tracks._

"_Now if you excuse me, I'm going to help a friend." May told Evanlyn over her shoulder._

* * *

"I did know you." May said, a bit confused. "But, that doesn't make any sense. I've never seen you before, at least I think I don't."

"You don't remember me?" Gilan asked her. May shook her head.

"Should I?" She asked, still confused. Gilan looked at her with a heartbroken expression.

"You remember them, but not me? Everyone, except me?" He tried one last time.

"I'm sorry." May said, looking at the man with pity. "I remember nearly everything from the past two years, but before that, it's just bits and pieces."

"Great. That's just wonderful." Gilan said sarcastically.

"Gilan, stop and think. Why do you think she lost her memory in the first place." Halt reasoned with him. "The people who got a hold on her must have found a way to block memories, or alter them."

"I'm still in the room, you know." May said to the man boredly.

"Can you tell me everything you remember, past two years ago." Halt asked her.

"Uh, it's sort of personal. I might have known you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you my life story." May replied.

"I know, I know, but all I'm trying to do is help you. Can you tell me about your brother then?" Halt said, changing his play.

"I think I can." May said. "He was supposed to be here instead of me. He trained me for the past two years. I leared a few new tricks in shifting, like changing colours. He's a master swordsman, and a smart strategist."

"Can you tell me of your shared past? How did you end up in Gallica." Halt asked. May nodded a bit hesitant.

"Our father died in the war, and mother died of an illness. She gave me her violin in her last moments. After that, Daniel and I where on our own. We left and learned how to live on the streets. He would always distract merchants, while I take food or somethimes money. We ended up in Gallica when we crashed at a large ship. I still don't like those death traps. In Gallica we got caught by some nobleman, and he gave us a choise. Join him, or he delivers us to the local scout. We've been with that man ever since. About eight years now. We got there when I was twelve, I believe. Or was it thirteen? One of the two." May ended.

"See?" Halt said to Gilan. "She has a different idea of what happened in her life. It's not her fault."

"That doesn't explain why she remembers things about you, and nothing about me." Gilan bitterly answered.

"Gilan, the man who took her altered her memory. To change someone's memory you're going to have her let go of the ones she loves. Now who do you think they had the most trouble with? And who did they have to bury so deep it won't get back that easily." Halt told his former apprentice.

"Makes sense." Horace said. "Look at the order she remembered us, and how much she remembers. How closer you got to her, how less she remembers."

"Guys, again, I'm still right here." May said again. "And how do you suggest master altered my memory? Magic?" When she met silence May let out a laugh.

"You've got to be kidding me. There's no such thing as magic. Yes there are shape shifters, bear-like creatures who can freeze you in fear, other strange creatures controlled by the mind, but magic? No, that's not real."

"One way or another, what you're telling us, isn't your past. At least not the one you told us about." Gilan said.

"Then what happened to me, two years ago and before that, that I don't remember?" May asked the six before her.

"Do you really want to know?" Horace asked.

"No, I ask the question without any reason, and I'm just going to let you talk about me like I'm not in the room." May said to the young knight.

"Oh." He responded.

"Someone has got to teach this kid how sarcasm works." May muttered after a sigh. "Anyone else want to tell me about myself then?"

"I'll tell you, but it's a long story." Gilan said.

"Well it's not like we're going anywhere right now, right?" May replied as she sat down.

"Right."

* * *

**A/N Well then, this'll be interesting. Will May remember Gilan after he told her the right memories? Maybe she will, maybe she won't...**

Something like me: **Yes, yes she does get hurt a lot. She's like a magnet to bad stuff. And yes Game of thrones is awesome, I like the story so far. I really like Jon Snow, but that's probably because of his hair. I love his hair. Yes I'm a hair person. A very weird hair person who likes dark curly hair. The oldest Stark has the same awesome hair. I have no idea what kind of cat I have. She's black with dark stripes, white on her rear legs and her chest. She's really small. Thank you, I hope I will be better soon. I'll probably go to school next Friday again, so I think it will work out.**

elvishrangerwolf: **Yay! epic review.****  
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Occea: **My great and powerful cat did allow it. And they indeed are. Though I am very grateful there are no snakes where I live. I absolutely loathe snakes. I blame the basilisk from Harry Potter... I love your reviews too!**

**That's it for the reviews today. See you all next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N This chapter, is one I wanted to write for a long, long time. I hope you like it. I'm finally feeling better, and I'll be back at school tomorrow. I've worked through a ton of missed homework, and did some research on Da Vinci and flying. A lot of people died, jumping off a building with a cape or wings, trying to fly... Smart move... And I'll probably get a lot more tomorrow at school, so I can't update as soon as I did the past three days. Sorry.**

* * *

Chapter 10.

So that's when Gilan started talking. From the beginning to the end. Everything May told him.

He spoke about how she and her family lived in several towns until they where discovered and scared away from there. How she and her brother had to watch and do nothing when Cahir killed her parents. How they where on the run from him in the year after that. How they got caught, and how she thought Daniel was dead. How the two men from Cahir hurt her and left her to die.

That he, Gilan, found her bleeding to death in the forest. How he took her back to his cabin, and took care of her wounds. That she became his apprentice, and more after a while.

He told her how they got ambushed by Cahir, and how he found out she was a shapeshifter.

He talked about the hunt for the Kalkara, with Will and Halt. About how she attacked one of those things when it was trying to kill Gilan. How she ended up in the infirmary again.

He told her about their trip to the festival, and how she really got her mother's violin back. How she had to leave it behind when Cahir killed her parents, and how angry she was at the merchant who tried to sell it.

Gilan said that they where on their way to the south of Celtica, with Will, Horace, and later Evanlyn. When he got to the point where he turned around and rode back to Auraluen, Evanlyn took over.

She told her about the burning bridge, and how they got caught by Erak and his crew. The trip to Skorghijl, and how she stood up for her when one of the Skandians tried to hit her. How she found out she could shift to more than one form, and how Erak found her a teacher for it.

Evanlyn told her about Alex, she and May talked about him a lot when they where in the cabin in the mountains. How she tried to talk May into going on a date with him. This earned a glare from Gilan, that faltered as soon as Evanlyn said that May'd always say that her heart belonged to someone else.

She told her about how she helped her and Will escape Hallasholm, and how they became friends after a short fight. She told her about how she got kidnapped by Alex, and how she got saved after four months.

She told her what May had been through those months, and asked someone else to take over. Gilan nodded and started explaining again.

About when she got back, she changed. That May wouldn't speak, or sleep for days. How she would train through the night, and most of the day. He told her about what happened when they where riding back from the anual gathering, and that she ran away, only leaving a letter for him.

"That's about everything we know." He ended. May nodded and looked at the people in front of her.

"I get hurt a lot, don't I?" She said eventually.

"Yes, some say you're a magnet to danger." Horace said with a half smile.

She didn't speak after that, she didn't respond. She opened her mouth to speak several times, but she's shut it before she would say anything. She closed her eyes and clutched her head, like she had a headache.

When she opened her eyes, they seemed to change color. from a pale blue-green to a bright emerald, like they had been before all this. Still without saying anything she rushed forward and crushed Gilan in a hug.

"I am so, so sorry." She told him. "I'm sorry, I-" SHe couldn't finish her sentence, so she just buried her face in his neck. Eventually Gilan smiled and put his arms around her.

"It's okay." He responded.

"What just happened?" Horace asked, looking at the two a bit confused. "I thought she didn't remember him?"

"I got my memory back, I guess." May said when she finally let go of Gilan. "I remember everything. You telling me my real memories unlocked it, I think. There are these plants, called Wolfs bain and black alder leaves. If you mix them, and use them correctly, you can corrupt someones mind. It's how Morgarath was able to control his Wargals. In Gallica, that's what they did to me. There's one catch however, when the person breaks the seal, in any way, the effect wears off." May explained.

"They told me how it worked, before they used it. Not the smartest thing to do, I guess." She shrugged. "They blocked something else in my mind too, but I'm not sure what that is."

"Good to have you back kid." Halt said to her.

"Hey, I'm 21, not a kid anymore." May responded with a grin. "Good to know I'm not going crazy anymore."

* * *

"They're going to kill them, all of them?" Will asked incredulously. He and Umar were

back at the Bedullin camp in a blind canyon to the north of Maashava. They had been looking over the small city for a while now. Sharik, the Bedullin spy who had spent the day inside the crumbling walls of Maashava,nodded in confirmation.

"That's the word among all the Tualaghi I saw. They're announcing it to the townspeople. Making quite a big thing out of it, apparently." He said

Umar pursed his lips thoughtfully. "It's what you'd expect of Yusal," he said. Will turned his horrified glance on the Aseikh.

"But you said he'd rather make a profit out of them!" he said and Umar shrugged.

"Normally, yes. But perhaps this man Toshak has offered him something in return." Shank had also told them about the presence of a Skandian in the Tualaghi camp, a man who seemed to be on equal terms with Yusal. Will realised that it must be Toshak. Svengal had told them weeks ago in Araluen that Erak suspected Toshak was behind the betrayal.

Umar continued now: "And Yusal enjoys any opportunity to show how merciless he can be. It helps keep his victims subdued. A multiple execution here will be remembered for years. Word will spread and it will make his task easier next time he takes over a village." Will was thinking furiously. What could Toshak have offered the Tualaghi to convince him to give up the ransom money? There could only be one logical answer, he realised.

"He's found the warrant and Evanlyn's seal," he said, almost to himself. Umar and Sharik regarded him curiously.

"The warrant?" Umar asked and Will explained quickly about the ransom payment they had arranged for Erak. The Bedullin leader nodded agreement.

"That could be it. An amount like that would be enough to convince Yusal." Will looked to Sharik again.

"Did you get any idea when they might be holding the executions?"

"On Sixday," the spy replied. "The usual time is between the ninth and tenth hour if it's to be a ceremonial execution."

Sixday was the sixth day of the week. It was a nonworking day, preceding Sevenday, the day for religious observances. On Sixday, food and trade markets were set up in the town square and people relaxed and enjoyed themselves. At least, Will thought, they did when their town hadn't been invaded by a nomad raiding party.

"Then we have two days," Will said.

"There's one more thing." The spy said. "Among your friends, another is to be executed. A young woman with black curly hair. She used to be one of Yusal's, or something like that, but she betrayed him. So she was thrown in prison with your friends."

"Then we'll help her. If she turned her back on Yusal, she might be good to us." Will nodded, deep in tought. Then a thought struck him. "Will they cancel the market?"

Umar shook his head. "Not at all. The more people out and about to see the executions, the better, so far as Yusal is concerned."

Will massaged his chin with his hand, his thoughts racing. "That could work for us," he said,

abstractedly. "The more people about, the easier it will be to infiltrate some of our men."

"I told you," Umar interrupted him. "My men will be recognised as outsiders as soon as they

speak."

"Yours, perhaps," Will replied. "But aren't you forgetting we have twenty-five Arridi troops with us?" He saw understanding in Umar's eyes and hurried on, his thoughts spilling out even as they formed. "We could pair each one with one of your men. They could mingle with the farmers bringing in their produce for the market. Some could even go in the night before. The Arridi does all the talking so the townspeople don't react to a Bedullin accent. That'd give us fifty men inside the town."

"That could work," Umar agreed. "Good work, Sharik," he said, realising that the spy was tired and there was no need to keep him from his bed. "Go and get some food and rest now." Then he looked to where Hassan was sitting nearby, listening intently to the discussion. "Go, and find the Arridi lieutenant," he ordered. "Bring him here."

* * *

When the idea was explained to Aloom, he agreed eagerly. The lieutenant had promised Selethen that he and his men would survive the desert, and come after him to rescue him. Now they had that opportunity being handed to them and he accepted instantly. He was also keen to meet with Yusal again, this time with a weapon in his hand. But there was one detail that Will and Umar had overlooked. He gestured at Umar's kheffiyeh.

"You'll need to change those," he said. "Your men all wear kheffiyehs with a yellow and white check. The Maashava people wear plain white."

It was a good point. The Bedullin were all so accustomed to their headwear that it was easy to overlook it. Umar nodded his head several times, acknowledging the point.

"We'll make white ones," he said. "We can use the cloaks of the men who aren't entering the town. Plenty of white cloth there."

"I think you should go in the night before," Will told Aloom. "I'll come with you. I need to look over the town and find a vantage point to shoot from. If anyone questions us, tell them to keep their mouths shut."

"You might also suggest that they can feel free to lend a hand when the fighting starts," Umar said dryly and Aloom shook his head in reply.

"Doubtful," he said. "The townspeople won't raise a finger to defend themselves. And government officials aren't popular in towns like this. Odds are they're looking forward to the execution."

"Where do you want me?" Umar asked. He had unconsciously deferred to Will's authority in this matter. Umar was a warrior whose skill lay in fast-moving cavalry raids in open country. The business of planning a close-quarters, street-to-street engagement in a town was new to him and he sensed the young foreigner knew what he was talking about.

"You'll lead the rest of the force into the town when we give you the signal." Will quickly sketched a rough map in the dirt with the point of his saxe. "There's a small gully to the northern side of the town, we saw it this morning."

He glanced up at Umar and the Aseikh nodded. He remembered the spot. "We'll get your men into cover there the night before. It's only seventy metres or so from the town. We'll wait till they've brought Halt and the others out…" He paused and looked at Aloom for advice. "How do they normally do that? All together or one at a time."

"All together," Aloom told him. "They'll bring them out a little before the ninth hour."

"By the way," Will said, feeling a morbid sense of curiosity, "how do they plan to execute them? Will they be hanged?"

Umar shook his head. "It's not the custom here. We use the sword. Yusal will have them beheaded."

A sick dread clutched at Will's stomach as the Aseikh said the words. He had a horrible image of Halt and Horace and Evanlyn kneeling before the headsman's sword. Evanlyn! His stomach churned at the thought of it. His breath came faster and he closed his eyes, trying to blot out the horror of it. What if I fail? He heard the question echoing in his mind. What if I fail?

He felt a firm grip on his hand and opened his eyes. Umar had leaned closer to him and had placed his hand over Will's.

"We're not going to let it happen," he said. There was a conviction in his voice that eased the sudden, horrified panic that had gripped Will. His breathing slowed and he steadied himself, nodding in gratitude to the desert warrior. Umar saw confidence returning to the young man's eyes once more and he released his hand.

"Do you have any thoughts about where you'll position yourself?" Umar asked.

Will nodded. "I'm thinking on one of the watch towers along the north wall."

He'd need a position with a good overview of the market square where the executions would take place. And he'd need an elevated position so that he'd have a clear shot. Yusal would probably concentrate his men in the immediate area of the execution site to stop any trouble. He wouldn't be expecting it to come from a hundred metres away.

"Good idea," Umar agreed. He and Aloom both regarded the young man with interest. Umar had seen the accuracy of Will's shooting. Aloom had seen Halt and Gilan's skill. If the young Ranger was half as good as his companions, it would make for an interesting morning, he thought.

"You plan to shoot Yusal then?" Aloom asked. He was in fact hoping that he might get the chance to deal with the Tualaghi leader, but he realised he wouldn't be too disappointed if Yusal ended up on the wrong end of an arrow. Will chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, staring down at the plan of the town he had sketched in the sand.

"Probably," he said. "My first priority will be the executioner. He's not getting anywhere near my friends. I'll want our fifty men to mingle with the crowd, as close to the execution site as possible. As soon as the executioner's down, they can keep the Tualaghi busy until Umar and his men arrive. I'll keep Halt and the others covered in case anyone else decides to try his luck as an executioner. If Yusal's still around, I might arrange to spoil his day."

"I'll need a sign so I know when to attack," Umar pointed out.

"One of my men is the company bugler," Aloom replied. "As soon as he sees Will shoot the

executioner, he can sound the signal."

"That should do it," Will said. "But let's cut a few corners. Keep watch on the tower. Once you see me climbing up to it, start moving your men out of the canyon. Nobody'll be watching in that direction. They'll be watching proceedings in the market square."

"Right." All three men realised they were staring at the rough map in the sand while their

minds went over the details. It was a relatively simple plan, Will thought, and that was a good thing. Simple plans were less likely to go wrong.

"What about the girl?" Umar asked.

"What girl?" Will replied.

"The one they threw in jail with your friends. The one Sharik told us about." Umar said back.

"We'll help her, and hope she'll fight against Yusal with us. Considering she stood up to him, I think that'll be easy." Will said, shrugging.

"Wait, girl? Greenish blue eyes, black hair? I believe one of the rangers once called her May. They seemed to know her." Aloom asked.

"That can't be right. If they're talking about May Greensworth, then you've got it wrong, May has red hair and vivid green eyes." Will said.

"I suppose she doesn't know them, she tried to kill the tall one in the night." Aloom said. "She's a shape shifter, keep that in mind." Aloom nodded. Now, Will began to doubt. What if it was May, then she would have tried to kill Gilan. No, that can't be right. May would never kill him. This is just another shapeshifter, who happens to have the same name as his friend.

Umar looked up and studied the young man's face. "If you're going in the night before, we might need to darken your face a little," he said. He took Will's face between finger and thumb and turned it from side to side, studying it in the moonlight. Will was tanned after his time in Arrida but his skin was nowhere near as dark as the average Bedullin. His brown hair and dark eyes would pass muster, but not his complexion.

"Maybe we can use a little kafay to darken your skin," he said thoughtfully, then added, with a grin, "It's a pity your nose isn't bigger."

Will grinned, remembering his unintentional insult when he had regained consciousness in the desert to find Umar bent over him. Then the Aseikh turned to Aloom.

"You'd better brief your men, captain. I'll pick out twenty-five of my best warriors to go with

them. They can start pairing off and getting to know each other tomorrow."

Aloom started to rise, then hesitated. "Captain?" he said. "I'm a lieutenant."

Umar shook his head. "I just promoted you. You might have to throw your weight around with the townspeople. And nobody ever listens to a lieutenant."

Aloom allowed himself a smile at that. "Too true," he said ruefully. "Too true."

* * *

**A/N Wolfs bain and Black alder are both existing plants. However, they do not have this effect, I just used two of the plants I know the English names of :P Oh, and I got some Will in it! He can be so smart and so naive at the same time. He'll be in for a surprise when he finds out May is well May.**

Something like me: **Yes it's indeed always him, but now there's something good happening to him. I'm glad too, my cat has been very generous the past two days. Thank you for the review!**

seth 8627: **Thank you, thank you very much.****  
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elvishrangerwolf: **I'm not sure about that, I've been planning a new reveal on that matter. But you're just going to have to wait and see. Maybe something that flies again. I like flying. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N I wanted to update sooner, but my dog bit my cat, and now she's at the vet. I have no idea how she is, and what is wrong with her. Anyway, here's the chapter. I had a (sort of) request for a form, and I tried to put it in...**

* * *

Chapter 11

The day passed, and May was set on trying to escape. At this moment she was sitting with her back against the door, knocking her head softly against it every now and then.

For the past day, the prisoners had been hearing the sound of hammering. Their captors were building something in the market square, they realised. Or, more accurately, their captors were forcing the Arridi townspeople to build it while they stood by and fingered their weapons. But with the large door remaining closed and locked the entire time, there was no way of knowing what was going on. The mystery was driving Gilan to distraction. Under normal circumstances, he probably wouldn't have become so obsessed by the noise. But Gilan had nothing to occupy his mind while they sat hour after hour in the old store room. So the question of what was being built loomed larger and larger with him.

"Relax," Halt told him, for the tenth time. The young Ranger was pacing the sand floor of the cave, restless energy positively radiating from him.  
"I can't relax," he said. "I want to know what they're up to." He stopped beside his old mentor and looked down at him. "Don't you sense they're up to something?" he said. May stopped hitting the door and curiously looked at the two.

Gilan looked around the dimly lit room for support. Svengal and Erak were sitting cross-legged, playing a complicated Skandian version of knucklebones and wagering nonexistent money.  
"Doesn't it bother you two?" he asked. Erak looked up and shrugged.  
"It's probably market stalls," he said.  
Gilan shook his head in frustration. "Probably! Is that good enough for you?"  
Erak considered the question for a moment, then nodded. "Yes," he simply said.

Gilan spread his hands in a gesture of annoyance. "But don't you want to know?"  
"Gil, please stop talking." May said, starting banging her head against the door again.  
"No."

It probably was market stalls, Erak reasoned. Anyway, Erak had other uses for his brain right now. He was keeping a running total in his mind of the amounts he'd lost and won playing knucklebones with Svengal. A man needed a sharp brain for that as Svengal was not averse to forgetting the odd amount that he might have lost.

"I figure I've won seventeen thousand, three hundred crowns from you so far," he said now  
"So that makes two hundred you owe me," he said innocently. He reached for the bones and became aware of Svengal's pained expression. to his second in command.  
"True. And that goes against the seventeen thousand, two hundred crowns I've won from you," Svengal replied instantly.  
Erak frowned. "Are you sure you've won so much?" Svengal nodded.  
"Totally sure," he said. Erak shrugged. Svengal was right but it had been worth asking in case he'd forgotten the four hundred crowns he'd won just as their midday meal had been delivered. No such luck, he saw now.  
"So that makes two hundred you owe me," he said innocently. He reached for the bones and became aware of Svengal's pained expression.

"I know that Oberjarls are supposed to rob their subjects blind, Erak. But could you do it with taxes rather than bad arithmetic?" he said. "Last time I figured it, seventeen thousand, three hundred less seventeen thousand, two hundred leaves one hundred."  
"So it is," said Erak as if he'd only just realised his mistake. Svengal snorted derisively and reached for the bones clutched in his leader's hand.  
"And it's my throw. Not yours," he said.  
"So it is," Erak repeated. Svengal rolled his eyes to heaven, took the bones and prepared to throw.

"Another thing…" Gilan began.  
"Oh my God," Halt said wearily. May groaned. Gilan merely glanced at them before he continued.  
"Another thing," he repeated. "Has anyone noticed the strange looks the guards have been giving us? When they bring us our food, they're sort of ... grinning about something."  
"They're happy souls," Halt said.  
Gilan shook his head. "They're smirking at us. Something's in the wind. I can sense it."

"My friend," Selethen told him, "it's no good wasting energy worrying about it. Just relax."  
"Yes, Gil. Listen to Selesomething. Calm down." May said, Selethen was about to correct her on his name, then he waved it off. Deeming it unimportant.  
Gilan shook his head stubbornly. "I want to be ready for it when it happens," he said. Evanlyn looked at him curiously.  
"How can you be 'ready for it' when you don't know what 'it' is going to be?" She asked.  
"Then I'll be ready for anything," the young Ranger said.

"So you'll be prepared for a herd of poisoned sheep flooding the town, creating a new sort of plague, wiping out the entire town?" May asked. "Or a flying blind man with a giant sword hacking everything his eyes can't see?"  
The younger Ranger drew breath to reply, but the rattle of the key in the door lock caught their attention. The big door opened, the rusty hinges shrieking a nerve-tearing protest over the last few centimetres of their travel, shoving May away. She shrieked softly and sat down a few metres away from the door. Two of the guards entered with their evening meal.  
Outside, the last light was fading over the town. With the mass of hills behind them blocking the light from the west, it became dark here earlier than out on the flat plain.

Conscious of Gilan's statements, Evanlyn watched the guards as they set down the cold coffee, flat bread and a meagre handful of dates. One of them caught her watching and grinned at her.

Yes, she thought, Gilan has a point. The grin was not a friendly one and it smacked of I know something unpleasant that going to happen to you.  
Then the suspicion was confirmed as he raised his thumb to his throat and drew it across in an unmistakable cutting gesture, rolling his eyes in a grim parody of death.  
Unnoticed by the guards and the other prisoners, Horace had sidled closer to the open door so that he could look out onto the town below them. Now as they went to leave, the two guards became aware of his position and shoved him roughly back to join the others.

"I didn't like the look of that," Evanlyn said in a worried tone. Horace hesitated. Then he realised that his companions deserved to know what he'd seen.  
"You'll like it less when you hear what they've been building. It's a big raised platform at the end of the square, about two metres above the ground, with steps running up to it." He said to them.  
"Like a stage?" Erak suggested. "Maybe they're going to put on a play."  
"Or an execution," Horace said. The room turned silent again. Deadly silent until someone broke it.

* * *

"I've got it!" She shouted. May jumped up and turned around to study the door. She ran her hands over the wooden door and searced for it's weak points. Erak and Svengal looked up from their gambling game, Horace lazily opened his eyes, Gilan's head snapped to May's direction, Halt and Evanlyn just looked up.

"You've got what?" Gilan asked.  
"A way to escape." May answered, her eyes still turned to the door.  
"What is it this time?" Horace asked. "Yelling for the guards again? Hoping that Amir is on duty? What was the last one again? Beating the door out of it's hinges?"

"That last one almost worked." May defended herself. "And no. I'm going to try and burn it down."  
"How will you make fire?" Svengal asked, not seeing the logic in this plan.  
"That's the tricky part. I'm going to have to shift into something I couldn't before. I tried, but so far nothing worked." May shrugged.  
"Then how are you going to do it?" Halt asked.  
"I have no idea, but if it works, we'll be out of here, and we'll be able to take down Yusal." May said.  
"How come?" Gilan asked her. "And what are you trying to do anyway? I thought you only had four forms." May shook her head.

"I have four basic forms, I can call upon easily. A multishifter's range is almost unlimited. But not every multishifter can do it. It takes a lot of focus and determination. Getting past four is already nearly impossible." May explained. "But I've got to try."  
"You still didn't say what you're trying to turn into." Halt commented.

"Dragon." May said, her eyes gleaming with joy. "I already love flying, think about the possibilities of a large flying lizard who usually can breathe fire."

"But, dragons aren't real. Right?" Evanlyn asked.  
"Yes, but like I said, multishifter's range is very high. Mythical creatures have been used before, it just takes a lot to do it. I tried a dragon before, but it didn't work." May said, she sat back down and crossed her legs.  
"How are you going to do it now then?" Halt repeated his question.  
"Like all forms, a dragon is connected to a thought or an emotion. In this case, passion. I need to focus on that, and try to morph to a dragon." May shrugged again.

"You said you tried this before. How?" Horace asked.

"With my brother." May's expression darkened a bit. "He tried everything. Making me focus on things I'm passionate about. First we tried family. Turned into a wolf. After that, it was music, or my violin. That turned out to be a fox. Uhm he tried to fight me after that, that's all I'm going to say about that."  
"So we need to find something you're passionate about, that isn't one of those previous things you tried." Horace stated. "Any ideas?" May shook her head.  
"No, that's the problem." She admitted. May sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't have anything I'm truely passionate about."

"Then we'll have to think of something." Gilan commented. He grinned at her, and sat next to her. May smiled back and shook her head.

"Ah, young love." Svengal said. "There's nothing more beautiful than that." May's eyes grew wide and her head turned red. She put her hear behind her ears and hid her face from the rest of the room.

"That's it!" Evanlyn suddenly said. "Gilan kiss May. Now."

"What?" Both Gilan and May said.  
"I mean, I don't mind, but why?" Gilan shamelessly said.  
"Passion can be found in love. That's something my father used to say to me." Evanlyn said. "Kiss May." Gilan shrugged, but May shook her head.  
"There's a room full of people." She said softly, looking at Gilan. She blushed again. "And they're looking at us."  
"Oh, right." He said, turning a little red himself. And the room was silent again. For a long time. Until Evanlyn spoke up.

"You're not even going to try?" she asked. "Because you're in a small room with six others you know?"  
"How about you kiss Horace then." May challenged. Horace snapped out of his daydream and looked at the two girls in the room.

"Wait what?" He asked.

"Nevermind." A now red Evanlyn said.  
"She is right." Halt said after a while. "If it would work, we'd be out of here. And I don't really want to die yet."

"I'd kiss her." Svengal commented.  
"Hey!" Gilan protested immediatly.  
"But I won't." Svengal added, his eyebrows raised. May had been silent for a while now, deep in tought. She was thinking about what to do, if it would work, how would she proceed. She can't burn down the entire city. That wouldn't be fair towards the people living in it. She could fly off and find help. But she would have to leave all of them behind, and Yusal will kill them as soon as they can. Maybe, if she could shift into something large enough, she could carry them all. May was brought out of these toughts when Gilan tapped her forehead.

"Are you still in there?" He asked. May blinked a few times and looked at him.  
"I'm sorry what?" She asked a bit sheepishly.  
"Nothing nevermind." Gilan grinned. She looked at him a bit confused, but she didn't have the chance to ask him anything.

Gilan reached forward and cupped her face, capturing her lips with his own. When May got over the shock, she closed her eyes and kissed back, forgetting everyone around her, forgetting everyone in the cell. She put her arms around him and leaned into the kiss. When Gilan pulled away May looked up to him.

"Focus on that." He said with a wink.

"Maybe I will." May said. She pecked him on the lips before standing up to face the door. May took a deep breath and closed her eyes, controlling her emotions.

May opened her eyes and got ready to shift. Focusing on her feelings towards Gilan. Slowly, she felt herself changing. She got smaller, a tail sprouted and two leathery wings appeared. May dropped to hands and feet, that became claws with sharp nails.  
The six others looked at her with awe. In a few moments May was replaced by a very small mottled drake. She wasn't larger than one armlength, tail included. Dark green and black. Her eyes were the same emerald green as when she's human.

The small dragon jumped up and down with joy when it saw it worked. She walked to the door and tilted her head. The dragon breathed in and opened her beak. A little bit of smoke came out if it, but no fire. The dragon shook her head, and tried again. And again. And again. But it didn't work.  
May shifted back to human and stared at the door. After a while when she couldn't find a solution, she kicked it as hard as she could, grabbing her foot in pain afterwards.

"Stupid door." She told it as she sat down again. May sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I couldn't make fire."

"We could see that." Evanlyn dryly commented.  
"Well excuse me princess. I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you. It's not like when I shift into something new I immediatly have full control on it. It takes a while. And I'm not the largest dragon. I'm pretty much an oversized lizard." May replied. "Useless."  
"It's useful for a good scare." Horace said, trying to lift the mood. May shorted.

"Yeah, but that doesn't help us get out of here." May replied as she sat down with her back against the wall. "All we can do now, is wait."

* * *

**A/N There, another chapter done. They've been in a cell for about three chapters now... Maybe it's time I get them out... Maybe not... Dots are fun... ... ... ... ... ,,, ... ,,, ... ,,, ... ,,, ... I get distracted easily.**

Something like me: **Thank you! Yeah I left Will out of it, but that's because nothing would go differently. It wouldn't be much fun to read, or write.**

Seth8627: **Then I hope you liked this chapter. Gil and May are back together, and they kissed again!**

elvishrangerwolf: **YES THAT IS A GREAT IDEA. You can see what I did with it! I hope you like it!**

Occea: **Everyone happy! YAY!**

**Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N Here's a long chapter. I had nothing to do, and writing is a great distraction from what happened today. My cat got bitten by my dog last night, and she passed in her sleep of the shock later that night. I got a call this morning at school, not a good call.**

* * *

Chapter 12.

"You're just going to give up?" Horace asked. May nodded and leaned her head against the wall behind her.

"I'm tired, and there's nothing I can do." She answered. She muttered something after that, but no one really heard what she said. Gilan finally stopped pacing and sat down next to her. May smiled at him before she lied down with her head on his lap. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

"Well then," Horace started. "Is anyone going to eat that?" He pointed to the food dropped off by the guards a few moments earlier. When no one answered Horace took the bread and coffee for himself.

* * *

The key rattled in the store room lock. The prisoners glanced up idly. It was morning, a few hours after first light, and they were accustomed to having the first meal of the day delivered about now. They had fallen into a routine. The day was divided by the three meals they were given. The food was unvaried and uninteresting, usually yesterday's flat bread, stale and tasteless, and a handful of dates, not enough to provide any of them with a real meal. But at least there was coffee and, even though it was served lukewarm at best, Horace, Halt, May and Gilan appreciated it. Svengal and Erak, of course, bemoaned the absence of strong ale.

Svengal sometimes thought longingly of the half-full cask he had left behind on Wolfwind, several weeks ago. He wondered how his men were faring in Al Shabah. Probably a lot better than he was here, he thought morosely.

The others were nursing thoughts of their own. Gilan was still wondering about the platform Horace had reported seeing. Executions, the young warrior had said. Gilan knew that he and Halt were decidedly unpopular with their captors. If anyone were going to be executed, he thought, it would be the two of them. And May of course. Yusal hated her, and that was enough reason for him to kill her. All he could do now was wait for an opportunity to escape. Even though May had given up on trying, Gilan was set on getting out of this alive, and with May.

Halt's seeming disinterest was an act, he realised. The older Ranger didn't want to communicate any uncertainty or fear to Evanlyn. Once he realised the fact, Gilan found himself wishing that he hadn't gone on so much about being 'ready for anything'. He'd be ready if any sort of opportunity arose. So would Halt. Talking about it wouldn't make them any more so. But it might have made Evanlyn nervous.

Horace remained calm. He had faith in Halt and Gilan. If there were a way out of their predicament, he knew they would find it. Like Gilan, he saw through Halt's seeming lack of activity. He knew the Ranger would be keyed up for action, his brain working furiously.

May was trying to fix her violin again, she was still taking off the rough edges with one of her hidden knives. For some reason she was doing that while lying on the floor.

It was the fact that their captors came for them at the time when they normally served breakfast that caught them all by surprise. Expecting two men to enter the store room laden with a tray of food and a jug of coffee, they were caught unawares when a dozen men, swords drawn, dashed through the open doors and took up stations around them. Halt, sitting with his back against the wall, went to rise. But the point of a curved sabre stopped him, pressing none too gently into his throat.

"Stay where you are," the Tualaghi captain ordered him. He gestured to the seated Ranger, his eyes never leaving Halt's face. "Hands out front, All of you." he said. Then, to one of his men, as Halt complied: "Tie him."

Halt's hands were quickly tied in front of him. Initially, as the Tualaghi went to tie them, he tried to tense the muscles in his arms and wrists, hoping to relax them later and cause the ropes to loosen slightly. But the Tualaghi captain was wise to the old trick. He rapped Halt sharply across his knuckles with the unsharpened back of his blade.

"That's enough of that," he ordered harshly. Halt shrugged and relaxed his hands. It had been worth a try. Around the room, he watched as the others had their hands similarly bound. He frowned. Why all of them? He and Gilan, he could understand. Maybe even Horace and May. But the others were valuable hostages. He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as he saw that the others were being dragged to their feet. Only May was still not bound, because she kept moving her hands quickly from one spot to the other. She hasn't moved and her arms were up, but she kept avoiding the guards rope. Eventually succeeding in tieing the guards hands. How she managed to do that, remained a mystery to Halt.

"Don't just stand there, tie her. Yusal doesn't want her to escape." The Tualaghi captain said to a few other guards.

"And you're going to use rope for that?" A very familiar voice said. May looked up and stared at him. Amir, how could he. May jumped up and ran to him, she punched him in the face and walked away.

"Use this." Amir said, as he handed a green rope. "It's coated in vervain, keeps her from shifting." The captain nodded and handed it to one of the guards who tied May up. Then the captain gripped the rope that secured Halt's hands together and hauled him upright.

"Where are we going?" he demanded but the man simply laughed and shoved Halt towards the door.

"This is not looking good," Horace said as he was shoved after the grey-bearded Ranger.

"Oh, really? I did not notice that." May added with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

* * *

Will and Aloom picked their way through piles of rubbish and fallen masonry. The northern section of the town was in the worst state of disrepair. The houses had been left to rot and collapse and had been taken over by squatters, the poor, the unemployed, the criminally inclined. From time to time, they saw faces peering furtively through crumbling doorways at them. As soon as they were spotted, the observers would pull back into the shadows of the houses.

The streets here were narrow and wound in a haphazard fashion as they detoured around houses that had collapsed and had simply been left where they fell, gradually deteriorating into shapeless mounds of masonry. Will had lost his sense of direction some time back. He hoped Aloom knew where they were heading. The Arridi lieutenant certainly led the way confidently enough.

Will heaved a sigh of relief as they eventually emerged from a twisting, confusing alley and he saw the remnants of the north wall ahead of them. Originally, there had been a wide, clear footpath along the inner base of the wall, with buildings not permitted to encroach within three metres. But over recent years, people had built hovels and lean-tos against the wall itself, often using the collapsed mud bricks that had formed part of the wall to build their dark little hutches.

They had come further east than they had planned, forced into one winding, random detour after another as they had picked their way through the ruined houses. Now Will saw that the watchtower he had picked out as a vantage point was some two hundred metres away. He recognised it by a roof beam that had collapsed and caught on the railing of the observation deck. The beam stuck out at an acute angle.

He looked up at the sun. It was climbing higher into the eastern sky and the tower was a long way away. There was another one closer to them, barely fifty metres away. By the time he picked his way past the lean-tos and the fallen piles of rubble, he might reach the original tower too late. It had taken them longer than they had estimated to traverse the ruined part of the town. He gestured to the nearer tower.

"That'll have to do," he said and Aloom nodded. He was looking worried.

"It's getting late," he said. "They'll be starting any minute." Half running, they picked their way through the chaos of fallen masonry and hovels towards the nearer of the two watchtowers.

* * *

Surrounded by guards, the eight prisoners were led down a long earthenware ramp from the

storehouse cave to the streets of the town itself. Shoved and buffeted, they stumbled over the uneven ground, strung together in a long line, forbidden to speak to each other. For the most part, the Arridi townspeople watched them with a mixture of apathy and morbid pity. Yet, as always in a crowd, there were those who chose to jeer at the prisoners and throw stones, clumps of earth and garbage at them. Halt glared at one group of young men in their twenties. Unlike most Arridi, they had obviously been drinking the powerful spirit known as arariki. They stumbled and staggered together, their eyes red and their jaws slack as they hurled insults at the line of prisoners. Halt turned and looked back over his shoulder at Selethen, the next in line behind him.

"I thought your religion banned alcohol," he said. Selethen glanced with distaste at the noisy, cat-calling group and shrugged.

"There's a low element in every society," he said. "People like that are simply too glad that

they're not the ones being led to the block today." A guard stepped forward and stung the two men with a knotted rope end.

"Hold your tongues!" he yelled at them. "No talking, we said!"

They emerged onto the square itself now. It was thronged with people and their escort had to shove to make a path for them. Half those watching were Tualaghi, Halt saw. They were enjoying themselves, hoping the prisoners' nerves would break at the last moment and reduce them to shrieking cries for mercy. Not that they'd be listened to. The concepts of pity and mercy were unknown to the Tualaghi.

On the far side of the square, close beside the raised timber platform which they could now see clearly for the first time, the deep booming of a drum began. It continued in a slow rhythm, like a great big heart. It was a signal for the crowd around them to re-double their noise. The single file of prisoners was forced through the crowd until they were standing by the steps leading to the platform.

Halt looked up. Yusal stood above them, dressed today in flowing robes of dark blue, his booted feet spread apart, hands on hips. As ever, his face was concealed behind the dark blue veil. Only his eyes were visible, as cold as ever. He faced the crowd now, scanning the faces before him, waiting for silence to fall. Gradually, the shouting died away to an occasional exclamation. Then those too were stilled as Tualaghi soldiers in the crowd struck out at anyone who would interrupt their leader. An unnatural silence fell over the square.

"Bring the prisoners up," Yusal said, his harsh voice now heard clearly in all corners of the square. The guards urged their captives forward and Halt led the way up the rough steps to the platform. He felt the stairs shudder under his feet as Selethen mounted them behind him and Svengal followed behind the Arridi.

Yusal grabbed May's shoulder as she went to move along the platform, making way for those who were following. When Halt climbed up, Yusal took his shoulder as well.

"You stay here," the Tualaghi told them. "You will be first." There was an angry growl of approval from the Tualaghi warriors in the crowd. The other prisoners might provide sport and diversion with their executions. The traitor (in their eyes) and the rangers where hated. The drum, which had temprorarily ceased its ominous booming, began once more. As Gilan climbed to the platform, following Erak and Evanlyn, Yusal gestured for him to stand beside Halt and May. Another murmur of pleasure came from the watching Tualaghi. There was a bustle of movement in the ranks of the crowd below them and Toshak shoved his way through to the front. He grinned up at Halt.

"This is where you get it in the neck, Ranger!" he called.

Halt ignored him, looking away, scanning the crowd, hoping beyond hope that he might see Will somewhere. He still had an unreasoning faith in the fact that his apprentice had survived and that he would not let them go to their deaths without attempting a rescue of some kind. If he were asked why he held to that belief, he couldn't have given a rational answer. It was faith. Faith in the ingenuity and courage of the young man he had grown to love as if he were a son. Will would be there because he was needed. And Will had never let him down in the past.

Vaguely, he was aware of Erak replying to Toshak, inviting him up onto the platform.

"Even with my hands tied, I'm sure I could break your treacherous neck for you, Toshak!" he

said. Toshak grinned infuriatingly.

"I'll take your head back to Skandia, Erak," he said. "I'll use your skull as a beer tankard."

Yusal glared at the two northerners. He had a sense of theatre and occasion and a flair for the dramatic. Their uncultured, noisy bickering had no place here.

"Be silent!" he commanded. Toshak glanced at him, shrugged indifferently, and leaned against one of the support poles to the platform. Yusal, satisfied that there would be no further interruption, held up one hand.

"Let Hassaun stand forward!" he shouted. The cry was taken up by the Tualaghi round the square.

The shouting echoed off the building fronts, keeping pace with the incessant booming of the drum. Some of the Arridi were caught up in the moment and joined their voices to the chorus. They had seen executions before. They had a good idea what was about to happen. The shouting grew in intensity, volume and urgency.

Then a massive figure appeared on one side of the square, standing high above the heads of the spectators. For a moment he seemed to be floating in the air, then Halt realised that he was on a large wooden shield, being borne at shoulder height by four Tualaghi as they forced their way through the crowd towards the execution site.

The drumbeat intensified in pace and the shouting went with it. Hassaun was a massive figure, clad entirely in black. His long, flowing robe billowed on the early morning breeze and the tails of his black kheffiyeh trailed behind him as the four warriors carried him forward. The lower half of his face was covered by the ever-present dark blue Tualaghi veil.

His hands, crossed in front of his chest, rested on a massive, black-bladed, double-handed sword. The giant executioner balanced easily on the shield, borne on the shoulders of four Tualaghi warriors as they made their way through the crowded market square towards the execution site. As he passed through the crowd, hands were raised and weapons brandished by the Tualaghi in admiration of the massive figure. The four bearers stopped beside the execution platform and Hassaun stepped lightly onto it. As he did so, another bout of cheering rose up.

Now that he could see him more closely, Halt realised that the executioner really was a giant. He stood well over two metres in height and his shoulders and body were built in the same massive proportion. He whipped the huge, two-handed sword up until it was raised vertically above his head and paraded along the front of the platform, ignoring the line of prisoners and brandishing the sword to the assembled crowd. Again the cries of his name echoed out.

He marched along the front of the platform to the far end, then back to the centre again,

drinking in the adulation of the crowd. Then, when he stood at the centre, he raised the sword to the fullest stretch of his arms, reversed it with a flick of his powerful wrists and drove it, thudding, point first into the platform. Out of the corner of his eye he saw May and Gilan interlocking hands, it looked a bit weird due to the bound hands, but May needed it.

The executioner stepped back a pace, leaving the sword slowly quivering as it stuck into the wood. Then he reached up to the lacing that secured his outer robe, quickly released it and swung the robe out and away from his body, letting it fall in a heap behind him.

He was clad now only in a pair of wide, billowing trousers, gathered at the waist and each

ankle, and the black kheffiyeh and dark blue face veil of the Tualaghi. His bare torso gleamed slightly with oil and now the hugely muscled arms, chest and abdomen could be seen clearly. He stepped forward and, without any apparent effort, flicked the sword free of the wood, then spun it around his body and head in a bewildering series of high-speed arcs and circles. He handled the huge sword as if it were a toy, but to anyone who knew weapons and could estimate the weight of the long, heavy, tapering blade, it was an impressive display that spoke volumes about the strength and co-ordination of arm, body and wrist muscles. The highly polished black blade caught the rays of the morning sun and flashed and dazzled the eye, moving so quickly that at times it seemed more like a solid black disc than a narrow blade.

The cries went up again and this time, more of the Arridi joined in, mesmerised by the strength and power and charisma of the Tualaghi giant. After all, seven of the eight captives standing on the platform were foreigners and the Arridi had no cause to mourn their execution. As for the seventh, word had gone around as to Selethen's rank and the people of remote back-country towns like Maashava had little reason to love the Emrikir and the Wakirswho ruled Arrida's provinces under him. As Halt had observed some days earlier, most officials in Arrida were corrupt, and prone to look for bribes when they dealt with the people under them. Selethen was an exception to the general rule but the Maashavites weren't to know that. He governed a distant province so they had no first-hand knowledge of him.

In addition, normal contact between subjects and rulers came at tax time, when townspeople like those in Maashava were required to hand over a percentage of all they had earned or grown during the year. At such times, the government showed little sympathy for a town that might have been invaded and pillaged by raiding Tualaghi.

'We starve while they grow fat in Mararoc' was an old back-country saying and the people of Maashava felt there was a lot of basic truth in it. So if a well-paid, well-fed government official were to lose his head, there'd be few here to grieve over the fact. With typical farmers' fatalism, they reasoned there would always be another eager to take his place. So now, faced with the savagely compelling prospect of a mass execution performed by an obvious artist like Hassaun, they began to cheer and encourage him to greater feats.

Hassaun was pleased to oblige. He began dancing from side to side, delivering overhead cuts, side cuts and deep thrusts with the massive sword, letting it flicker and sweep with all the speed of a snake's tongue. Back and forth he went, from left to right, then back to the left again. Then he leapt high in the air and delivered a huge, arcing downwards cut with the sword, miming the decapitation of a kneeling victim. The point thudded into the wood planks and again he released it and leapt back, leaving the sword quivering from the force of the blow. As quickly, he seized the two-handed grip and jerked it free again, then began knee-walking from side to side, dropping to a knee with each stride, and all the time keeping the sword spinning, flashing and cutting. The chanting of his name intensified, with the cadence of the chant matching the rhythm of his movements.

From his kneeling position, he leapt high in the air, spinning as he came down to face the line of victims, carving an invisible X in the air with two diagonal sweeps of the sword. Then he spun once more to face the crowd. For all his size and strength he was amazingly light on his feet. He signalled to one of the men who had carried him to the platform and the warrior reached to a nearby market stall and retrieved a melon. He tossed it high into the air above the giant.

The sword flashed in two opposing diagonal cuts. The first cleaved the melon in two pieces. The second sliced through the larger of the two before the sections of fruit dropped to the platform with a wet thud.

Unbidden, the soldier now lobbed another melon and this time Hassaun halved it with a horizontal sweep, followed instantly by a vertical cut through one of the pieces.

The crowd howled its delight. Hassaun responded by passing the sword, spinning, from one hand to the other, maintaining the rhythm as he passed it from right to left hand then back again, holding it by the long hilt, close to the crosspiece, controlling it with the strength of his hands and wrists. He tossed it, spinning, high into the air, caught it as the hilt came round. Then, leaping high, he spun one hundred and eighty degrees in the air and brought the sword down in a savage splitting stroke at the captive who happened to be facing him.

* * *

**A/N Long update. About seven pages long...**

Something like me: **The guard? Really, okay. I get why, but still. I probably won't use the dragon much, only in panic situations. Like I said, it would take a lot of energy and practice to turn into a mythical creature, so she won't be able to use it a lot. Thank you for your review.**

Seth 8627: **You're welcome. I hope you liked this chapter as wel.**

Occea: **Well you can see how excited they are. May is scared to death, but she doesn't want to show it. You'll see what happens next time...**

elvishrangerwolf: **I'm not sure yet. I don't think so, maybe when she's older. I won't use the dragon much, because it's like a last resort. It takes a lot from May for her to shift into that. And tiny dragons are cute.**

**Please review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N Here's another chapter for you. I'm stuck on my couch again, funny story. It's my knee again. I twisted it while swimming, and now I probably have something with my meniscus. Good news for you, I probably will be writing a lot.**

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Chapter 13.

By chance, it was Horace.

The crowd fell suddenly silent as the huge figure leapt, spun and struck. They expected to see the foreigner split from head to shoulders, at least. But at the last moment, with an amazing display of strength and control, Hassaun halted the downward stroke so that the massive blade merely touched Horace's hair.

The crowd yelled, then fell silent as they realised that the young foreigner hadn't moved, hadn't flinched. He hadn't tried to raise his bound hands in a futile attempt to ward off the terrible blow. He had merely stood, rock steady, watching the executioner with a disdainful look on his face.

Horace's pulse was racing and adrenaline was surging into his system. But he showed no sign of it. He had somehow realised what was coming as the huge man had leapt and spun before him. The co-ordination of the back stroke with the turn had alerted Horace. Sensing what was about to come, he had determined that he would not move a muscle when the stroke arrived. It took enormous strength of will but he had managed it. Now he smiled.

Prance and leap all you like, my friend, he thought, I'll show you what a knight of Araluen is made of.

Hassaun paused. He frowned as he stared at the smiling young man before him. In times past, that movement had invariably resulted in the victim's dropping to the ground, hands above his head, screaming for mercy. This youth was smiling politely at him. Incredibly, he held out his bound hands, palms uppermost.

"That was really very good," Horace said. "I wonder could I have a go?" It was as if he really expected Hassaun to pass him the sword. The executioner took a pace back, bewildered. He felt the situation was moving out of his control. Then matters became worse as the two bearded Skandian ruffians joined in.

"Nice work, Horace," Erak said, chuckling delightedly. Svengal echoed the sentiment.

"Well done, boy!" He said. "That's set Horrible Hassaun back on his haunches!"

With a scream of rage, Hassaun turned on the two guffawing Skandians. The sword spun over his head then he swung it in a flat, horizontal arc this time, straight at Erak's neck. As with Horace, he halted the blow only millimetres from the Skandian. But, like Horace, Erak showed no sign of flinching. Instead, he turned to his cohort and said in an approving tone,

"Nice control, Svengal. The man's got good wrists. I'd like to see him with a battleaxe in his hands."

Svengal frowned, not totally agreeing. "I'd like to see him with a battleaxe in his head, chief," he said and they both guffawed again, totally at ease, totally unafraid.

Now Hassaun sensed a growing impatience and puzzlement in the crowd. The chanting of his name had died down as they showed their respect for the courage of these foreigners. Arrida was a hard land and violent death was a daily occurrence. The Arridi and Tualaghi both admired those who could face it with such aplomb. It was vital, Hassaun knew, that he regain the mob's respect. He paced along the line of captives, looking for the weak link.

And saw the girl. Two of them actually.

She wouldn't be able to withstand the threat of the huge sword, he reasoned. He could reduce her to a weeping tearful shadow of herself within seconds. And then, he sensed, the other captives would have to lose their disinterested, nonchalant attitude to him as they tried to comfort her. Now he only had to choose the right one.

The one next to the rangers, who was holding the other one's hand, looked scared to death. And the other one, didn't look very impressed by his skills. But she was younger, so it seemed, and she had probably seen less life-scarring things that the ranger girl. He knew what she was, and he knew that shapeshifters usually know how to keep calm. She seemed terriefied enough, but that could all be an act. So Haussan decided to play it safe.

He let the rage build up in him like water behind a dam. The he released it with a lingering scream of hate as he leapt for the blonde girl, sword raised. Then the blade was sweeping and cutting across her, beside her, above her head, thudding down into the planking by her feet so that the floor of the platform shook with the force of his blows. He cut the air about her, the sword never more than a few millimetres from her. It was a terrifying, terrible display of rage and strength.

The girl didn't move.

Evanlyn stood stock still, knowing she must not move, must not cringe or flinch or blink while the terrifying weapon hissed past, barely a hair's breadth from her face and body. Any one of those blows would cut her in half, she realised. Yet she forced herself to show no fear. Her heart thudded and her pulse raced with it but she hid it deep inside her. She wondered vaguely how Horace had stood up to such an ordeal without fear and then it dawned on her.

He hadn't. But he had controlled the fear because that was his way of having revenge on the posturing, leaping, stupid man now in front of her. And she determined she would have the same revenge. Logic told her that this display of Hassaun's was all for show. They had stated several times that Halt would be the first to die. Therefore all this slashing and cutting was simply to frighten her. At the same time, she realised, the slightest mistake on Hassaun's part would be fatal. If rage or frustration threw him off balance so that he missed a stroke by as little as half a centimetre, she would be dead.

But she stood, eyes open but deliberately unfocused as the razor-sharp blade, nearly a metre and a half long, hissed and whooshed around her face and neck and body. And finally, it was Hassaun who was defeated. He stepped back, lowering the sword. His body gleamed with perspiration. His eyes above the mask showed his utter bewilderment.

And the crowd was silent.

Then one voice, from somewhere in the middle, called out.

"Release her!" And another joined in, and another. Until a growing section of the crowd were echoing the sentiment. Mostly they were Arridi. But Yusal's eyes narrowed in rage as he saw several of his own men raising their hands and calling for Evanlyn's release. Furious, he stepped forward, drawing his own sword to emphasise his words.

"That's enough!" he shouted. "Enough!"

The cries for Evanlyn's release died away as Yusal's bleak eyes swept the crowd. Behind him, Halt realised that this was a moment of maximum danger for Evanlyn. Yusal might well choose to make a swift end of her here and now to still the chance of any further protest on her behalf. He would have to take the focus away from her and concentrate Yusal's anger on himself. Forcing a tone of utter boredom and disdain into his voice, he stepped forward, calling loudly to the Tualaghi leader:

"Yusal, this is getting very boring. Can we get on with it, please?"

Yusal rounded on him, Evanlyn forgotten. This was the man his soldiers hated, he knew. This was the way to recover control of the situation. Nobody would call for Halt's release. He pointed his sword now at the grey-bearded, shaggy-haired figure.

"Kill him!" he ordered Hassaun. "Kill him now!"

Two of his men dragged Halt to the edge of the platform while a third brought the execution block forward. This was a tapered timber block about a metre high, designed so that a kneeling victim could be forced to lean their upper body against the tapered, sloping edge, thus providing resistance to the blow from the executioner's sword. He placed it in position while Halt was forced to his knees by the other two. They shoved him hard up against the block, looping his bound arms over it to hold him in position. Halt glanced round, saw Gilan's horrified expression. He smiled grimly.

"Will's taking his time," he said. "I'll give him a piece of my mind over this." He saw May next to him, and he knew what she was planning. As discreetly as he could Halt shook his head. He looked up at Gilan, and he got his message. He took May in his arms, stopping her from doing something stupid.

"Silence!" screamed Yusal, his voice breaking into a higher pitch with the vehemence of his cry. "Force him round!" he added in a more controlled voice to one of his men. The Tualaghi grabbed Halt's head in both his hands and turned it so that he was facing forward.

Halt found himself scanning the faces before him, faces in the crowd. They were silent now and unmoving. But there was no pity evident there, just the morbid fascination of those looking into the eyes of a man who is about to die. Then he stopped at one face that seemed vaguely familiar. The man met his gaze and nodded slowly. Halt racked his brain and realised he had seen the man before, he had been one of the Arridi troopers turned loose by Yusal to die in the desert. He was sure of it! There was a vast collective sigh from the crowd as Hassaun stepped forward, advanced his right foot and took the huge sword up and back, high over his right shoulder.

"No! Stop!" It had been May, she finally got out of Gilan's hold. "Let me take his place, you hate me, just let him live." She pleaded. Yusal grinned sadisticly at her. Haussan lowered his sword and eyed the girl curiously.

"I'm sorry, but you don't deserve that luxury." He said, his eyes full of joy. "Haussan. Keep going." The giant nodded and raised his sword once again.

There was a pause. Then Halt heard a hiss as something passed through the air at great speed.

It was vaguely familiar, he thought. In a strangely detached way, he decided it must be the sound of the sword flashing down to end his life. He'd often wondered how it would happen and what it would feel like. In less than a second, he thought, he'd know.

* * *

Will and Aloom had reached the nearer tower as the drumbeat began, deep and sonorous.

"They're starting!" Aloom cried. "Get moving! We haven't much time!"

Will said nothing. He stripped the canvas wrapping from his longbow, bent it behind his right calf, anchoring it in place with his left ankle, and slid the bowstring up into its notch, grunting slightly with the effort of overcoming the bow's fifty-kilogram draw weight.

He tossed his cloak to one side, revealing the quiver of two dozen arrows over his shoulder, slung the bow alongside it and started to climb up the rotten timber framework of the tower. It was slow going. In spite of Aloom's exhortations to hurry, and his own growing sense of urgency, he knew he had to pick his hand and footholds carefully. The tower was in worse condition than he had expected and there was an excellent chance that it might collapse under a hurried movement.

He'd gone up four metres, past the top of the wall itself, and was stepping carefully to one last crosspiece before he gained the observation platform. The drum had ceased for a few minutes but, in the distance, he could hear it booming again, coming faster and faster now. Then a chant from hundreds of voices carried to him:

_Hassaun! Hassaun! Hassaun!_

"Who the blazes is Hassaun?" he muttered to himself, inching carefully along a decidedly untrustworthy timber brace. He was poised in midair, his foot reaching out tentatively for the more solid-looking platform, his weight supported by his arms so that he was utterly helpless, when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Who the hell are you? And what are you up to?"

He looked down. Aloom was below him, facing back the way they had come. Ten metres away, three Tualaghi warriors watched them suspiciously. Suspicion turned to certainty in the eyes of Talish, the Tualaghi thief, as he glanced up and saw Will hanging from the watchtower framework, his longbow and quiver slung over one shoulder.

The Tualaghi didn't recognise the young man but he recognised the weapons. He had seen bows like that before, when he and his friends had charged the Arridi camp site.

"He's one of the foreigners!" he yelled, drawing his sword. "Get him!"

His two henchmen moved forward with him, their own swords ringing clear of their scabbards. Aloom stepped clear of the wall, discarding his cloak and drawing his own weapon to bar their way.

"Keep going, Will!" he called. "I'll take care of them!"

But there were three of them, all seasoned fighters, and they crowded upon him, swords flashing, rising and failing as they attacked. Aloom gave ground stubbornly before them but he was fighting a losing battle. He set his back to the stones of the wall and desperately parried the storm of blows that rained upon him. Inevitably, one of the swords broke through his defence and he was cut badly on the upper part of his sword arm. Then another stroke slashed across his thigh and he stumbled, recovering just in time to avoid a horizontal slash at his throat.

Hanging awkwardly above him, there was no way Will could unsling his bow in time to help. Even if he could have done so, he couldn't have shot, hanging by his arms. Yet he could see his friend would be dead within a few seconds. Aloom's parries were growing clumsy and awkward now and he was cut again, this time across the forehead so that blood ran into his eyes, half blinding him. From the square, Will heard the crowd's chanting grow louder and louder, faster and faster.

_Hassaun! Hassaun! Hassaun! Hassaun!_

The cry came from hundreds of throats and rolled across the town like thunder, waking echoes in the gullies and mountains around them. Will hesitated for a second. Aloom would die if he didn't help him. But the chanting of the crowd told him that events in the square were building to a climax. Halt needed him ...

But Aloom was here and now, and fighting desperately to save him. There was no question about what he should do. Measuring the distance, he released his grip and let himself drop to the uneven battle below him.

He landed feet first on the shoulders of the Tualaghi leader. The man gave a cry of shock and pain and crumpled beneath the force of Will's body dropping on him from four metres above.

Will heard the snap of bones breaking somewhere, then a sickening thud as the bandit's head slammed into the hard, rocky ground. Will rolled forward to cushion the shock of landing, although the greater part of the force of his fall had been broken by the Tualaghi's body. He leapt to his feet as the other two bandits turned on him. Shocked by his unexpected action, they hesitated a second, and that was a second too long. Will stepped into them, closing the distance between him and them so that he was inside the reach of the nearest man's sword.

Always move forward if you have the option. Halt had drummed the lesson into his brain hundreds of times. A man going forward has the momentum to control a battle. Now Will acted spontaneously, stepping forward. The saxe knife hissed out of its scabbard as he drew and lunged in one smooth, continuous movement, taking the closest man in the centre of the body.

The Tualaghi gave a short cry, half surprise, half pain, and sank back against the wall, his sword dropping from his hand and clanging against the stones. From the square, Will heard a deafening cheer, then the ringing cry came again as the crowd chanted Hassaun's name. Then there was a sudden silence. He didn't like the sound of that. Time was getting short and there was still one Tualaghi to take care of.

As Will had dropped from the tower onto the shoulder of the first bandit, Aloom had sunk gratefully back against the wall, trying to staunch the flow of blood from multiple sword cuts to his arm, leg and body. He watched as the young Ranger took care of two of his opponents in a matter of seconds, saw the third Tualaghi was within reach now and tried to lend a hand.

Coming to his knees, he slashed at the bandit, but his stroke was weak and poorly co-ordinated. The Tualaghi saw it coming and parried it easily, sending Aloom's sword spinning away out of his grip. Then he raised his own sword to finish off the Arridi. He was an experienced fighter and he judged he had time for one quick killing stroke before he must turn and face the foreigner.

Will threw the saxe underhand, following through to the target automatically, in a movement that had been drilled into him, over and over again, in the past five years. The Tualaghi, arm raised for the killing stroke, was totally defenceless as the saxe knife flashed across the distance separating him from Will. He felt a heavy impact in his side, an impact that staggered him. Then a huge pain flamed up around the point of impact and he wondered what it ...

Then nothing.

Will started towards Aloom. Then he stopped. From the square, voices were calling again. Initially, they were single voices but then more and more joined together. He frowned, managing to make out the words.

_Release her! Release her! _

He realised it must be about Evanlyn and for a moment felt a surge of hope. They were going to release his friends. Then Yusal's hard, uncompromising tones cut across the voices of the crowd.

_That's enough! Enough!' _

The crowd fell silent. Aloom, face screwed up in pain, gestured weakly for Will to climb back up to the watchtower.

"Go! Go! Hurry! There's no time!"

He coughed and scarlet blood stained the front of his robe. But he continued to point to the watchtower and Will realised he was right. He could tend to Aloom later but now, he had to rescue his friends and signal Umar to bring the rest of his men to the attack.

Heedless of the rotting wood that groaned and splintered beneath his movements, he scrambled up the tower. Whereas before he had moved slowly and carefully, this time he moved at lightning speed, reasoning that the less time he put his weight on a hand or a foothold, the less chance there would be that it might collapse beneath him. Several beams, in fact, splintered and shattered after he had stepped clear of them and on to the next. The pieces clattered to the ground below.

"_Kill him now!"_ He heard Yusal's shouted order and he knew, somehow, that he was talking about Halt.

Then he was on the relatively solid footing of the tower platform. He shrugged the bow off his shoulder into his left hand. His right hand automatically sought an arrow from the quiver, had it nocked on the bowstring before he was even aware of performing the action. From his vantage point he could see across the low, flat-roofed houses of this section of the town to the square. Beyond the milling heads of several hundred spectators, Halt was being dragged forward and forced to kneel beside the executioner's block. His companions stood in a line behind him. Gilan was holding the stranger, the traitor the spy had told them about. Why would he do that? Will tought to himself. Yusal stood to one side, a grim figure with his dark robes and veiled face.

On the other side was a monster. A giant Tualaghi, bare to the waist, head and face covered. Hugely muscled, gleaming with oil, holding an immense sword in two hands. The executioner. Hassaun, Will realised. He saw Halt kneel, then turn and say something to Gilan, saw Yusal gesture and two men step forward to twist Halt's face back to face the front.

The executioner stepped forward. The sword began to go up over his head. Will drew the arrow back until the tip of his right forefinger touched the corner of his mouth. His mind and senses analysed the shooting situation in fractions of a second. Range? A little over a hundred and twenty metres. The arrow tip raised slightly in his sighting picture. Wind? Nothing to worry about. The executioner was almost at full stretch now, measuring his stroke before the sword started down.

"_No! Stop!" _It was the dark haired stranger that spoke, it took Will by surprise, but he recovered a second later. "_Let me take his place, you hate me, just let him live."_

"_I'm sorry, but you don't deserve that luxury." Yusal said. "Haussan. Keep going."_

Will knew this shot had to be right. There would be no time for a second attempt. He shrugged away the confidence-sapping uncertainty that followed the thought. Worry that you might miss a shot and you almost certainly will, Halt had taught him. He heard the long sigh of expectation from the crowd, emptied his mind of worry and uncertainty and allowed the bow string to slide free of his fingers, almost of its own volition, sending the arrow on its way.

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**A/N Another long chapter! Great right?**

Occea: **The cat is dead, it can't really stop me from writing now... You don't have to wait anymore. Here's the execution, thank you for the review.**

elvishrangerwolf: **No she cant. I have to admit, winged creatures are my favorite, but it's not good for this story.**

Seth 8627: **Good, and** **o****nly a little, as you can see, Will couldn't see her face from the distance, so he didn't recognize her. He is confused as hell for Gilan's actions towards her though.**

gilans apprentic: **Welcome to the story! I don't know how this is going to end yet, and I will not say anything unless it's about the previous chapters, sorry for that. ****  
**

**Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N Told you I'd update soon. Here's another chapter. I had to stay at home from my mom, because 'I should be resting and not at school being you.' Well thanks mom, I'll try to be not me... XD it's okay, I know what she means, when I'm around friends, people would swear I have ADHD. (I don't)**

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Chapter 14.

Gilan watched helplessly as the massive sword rose higher and higher in Haussan's two handed grip. The young ranger's face twisted in a grimace of impotent horror. He watched as his friend and teacher about to die, torn by a combination of grief, and the thougth that he couldn't do anything to prevent it. He tried to cry out Halt's name but the word

choked in his throat and he felt tears running freely down his cheeks. He held May again, after she broke free for a moment. She saw him looking, and took his face in her bound hands.

"Gil, look at me. Don't look at that. Will's here, Halt said so. Just don't think of it. Close your eyes. Please." She pleaded. May had her back turned to Halt, and tried to block the view from Gilan. She stood on her toes, but she wasn't tall enough.

But Gilan couldn't take his gaze away from Halt. From Halt and the large sword that was about to come down. The sword rose higher still. Any moment, he knew, it would begin its downward, cleaving path.

But then, Inexplicably, it continued to rise, going past the vertical, past the point where the executioner should have begun his killing stroke. There was a sudden chorus of surprise from several points in the crowd. Gilan frowned. What was Hassaun doing? The sword continued up and over as the executioner, arms fully extended above his head, slowly toppled backwards, to fall with a plank-shuddering crash on his back. Only then did those on the platform see what had been visible to the crowd in the square: the grey-shafted arrow buried deep in the executioner's chest. The huge sword fell free as Hassaun hit the planks, stone dead.

"It's Will!" Gilan yelled, scanning the crowd feverishly to see where his friend was concealed. May let go of his face and turned around to look as well.

Kneeling by the block, Halt lowered his head, closed his eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks. Around them, pandemonium erupted. Yusal watched, amazed, as his executioner fell dead before him. Then he saw the arrow and knew instinctively where the next shot would be aimed. Sword still in hand, he hesitated a second, tempted to finish off the kneeling figure. But he knew he had no time. He turned to his right to escape.

The second arrow was already on its way before the first struck Hassaun down. The moment he released the first shot, Will knew, with the instincts of a master marksman, that it was good. In less time than it takes to say it, he nocked, drew, sighted on the black-robed figure of Yusal and released. It was the turn to the right that saved Yusal's life. The arrow had been aimed at his heart. Instead, it took him in the muscle of his upper left arm as he turned away. He screamed in pain and fury, dropping his sword as he clutched at the wound with his right hand. Stumbling, he lurched towards the rear of the platform to escape, doubled over in pain, holding his bleeding left arm.

Will, high on his vantage point, saw the movement and realised he had missed. But he had other priorities for the moment. Yusal was out of the picture but there were still armed Tualaghi all over the platform, threatening his friends. His hands moved in a blur of action as he nocked, drew, shot, nocked, drew, shot, until half a dozen arrows were arcing over the square, and the guards began dropping with shrieks of agony and terror.

Four of them went down, dead or wounded, before the others regained their wits. Faced with the prospect of staying on the platform, exposed to the deadly shooting of the unseen archer, they chose to escape, leaping from the platform into the square below.

Already, a series of individual battles had begun as the infiltrating pairs of Bedullin and Arridi troopers threw off their cloaks, drew their weapons and struck out at the nearest Tualaghi warriors. The square was soon a seething, struggling mass of clashing warriors. The townspeople of Maashava attempted to escape from the killing ground, but many of them were wounded as the Tualaghi, fighting for their lives, not knowing where the sudden attack had come from, simply struck out blindly around them.

* * *

On the platform, a few guards remained. But not for long. Erak and Svengal combined to pick one bodily off the ground and heaved him into three of his comrades. The four bodies crashed over and rolled off the edge of the platform into the struggling mob below. Gilan, meanwhile, had seized Yusal's fallen sabre and was cutting through Evanlyn's bonds with its razor-sharp edge.

Horace, taking in what had happened, reacted with all the speed of the trained warrior he was. He dashed forward to where Halt was struggling his way clear of the block, raising himself to his feet and slipping his bound arms up over the block. Horace helped him untangle himself, then turned him towards Gilan, a few metres away, now releasing Erak and Svengal from their bonds. May was already doing Evanlyn's.

"Gilan and May'll cut the ropes," he said, giving the Ranger a shove to send him on his way. Then the young knight scanned the square and the space beyond it for a sight of his friend. He saw a figure high on a watchtower on the wall. The clothes were unfamiliar but the longbow in his hand was unmistakable. Taking a deep breath, Horace yelled one word.

"Will!" His voice was trained to carry over the din of a battlefield. Will heard it clearly. Horace saw him wave briefly. Horace held both his bound hands in the air above his head for a few seconds, looking up at them. Then he bent forward and placed them on the far side of the execution block, pulling them as far apart as he could to expose the ropes that held his wrists together. He turned his face away, closed his eyes and prayed that his friend had got the message.

_Hissssss-Slam!_

He felt the bonds part a little, opened his eyes and saw the arrow quivering in the wood of the execution block. Will, had cut one of the three strands holding Horace captive. The other two were still intact.

"You're slipping," Horace muttered to himself. But the answer to the problem lay in the form of the razor-sharp broadhead on the arrow. It took only a few seconds for Horace to cut the remaining ropes with the keen edge of the warhead, leaving his hands free. In the square below them, a small group of half a dozen Tualaghi had reorganised and were heading in a fighting-wedge towards the stairs leading up to the platform. Horace grinned mirthlessly to himself, reached down and retrieved the massive two-handed executioner's sword, testing its weight and balance with a few experimental swings.

"Not bad," he said.

As the first two Tualaghi mounted the stairs to the platform, they were met by a sight from their worst nightmare. The tall young foreigner charged them, the huge sword whirling, humming a deep-throated death song. The leading warrior managed to catch the blow on his shield. The massive blade smashed into the small circle of metal and wood, folding it double on his arm. The stunning impact of the blow sent him tumbling. back down the stairs, to crash into two men following him.

The second man, slightly to his right, drew back his own sword to strike at Horace. But Horace's return blow was already on its way and it caught the Tualaghi's blade a few centimetres from the hilt of the sword, shearing it off. This nomad was made of sterner stuff than his comrades. Barely pausing to react to the massive damage done to his weapon, he dropped it and charged forward, ducking under the sweeping flight of the two-handed sword as Horace brought it back. As he came, he drew his belt dagger and slashed upwards in a backhanded stroke, catching Horace high on the shoulder.

A thin red line formed immediately, then blurred as blood began to well out of the cut. Horace barely felt the touch of the blade but he felt the hot blood coursing down his arm and knew he'd been wounded. How bad the wound might be he had no idea, and in any event, there was no time to worry about it now, with the Tualaghi inside the arc of his giant sword. But there was more to the sword than its long blade and Horace simply brought the massive brass-pommelled hilt back in a short, savage stroke, thudding it into the man's head. The kheffiyeh absorbed some of the blow, but not enough. The man's eyes rolled back into his head and as Horace put his shoulder into him, he sailed back off the platform, landing on the struggling heap that had fallen at the bottom of the steps.

Horace stood at the top of the steps, feet wide apart, the sword sweeping back and forth in short, menacing arcs. Having seen the fate of the last group of men who tried to mount the steps, none of the other Tualaghi were anxious to try their luck.

* * *

Halt and Selethen stood towards the rear of the platform. Gradually, the square was emptying as the Maashavites found their way into the alleyways and streets that led from it. The struggling, fighting groups of Arridi, Bedullin and Tualaghi were rapidly becoming the only ones left in the square. And the Tualaghi's numerical superiority was becoming obvious.

"Nice of the townspeople to lend a hand," Halt muttered. He and the Wakir had both armed

themselves with swords dropped by the fallen guards. Gilan and May had a sword as well and the two Skandians were brandishing spear, also the former property of their guards. Evanlyn was fumbling with the broad leather belt she had been wearing, unlacing a length of leather thong that had formed a decorative criss-cross pattern on the belt. Halt glanced at her curiously, wondering what she was up to.

Then Selethen replied to his comment and his attention was distracted from the girl.

"They're used to submitting, not fighting. They think only of themselves," the Wakir said. He

had expected no more of the people of Maashava. He had heard how some of them had even cheered his upcoming execution. Gradually, in response to a pre-arranged plan, the Arridi and Bedullin warriors were falling back to form a perimeter around the execution platform. Selethen glanced around the square, a worried frown on his face.

"There can't be more than fifty of them," he said. "Where did they come from?"

"Will brought them," Halt answered. He gestured to the semi-collapsed watchtower, where he had finally caught sight of a small figure perched among the crossbeams, a longbow ready in his hands. Halt waved now and his heart lifted as the figure returned his salute. With no immediate targets to seek out, Will was conserving his arrows, hoping for another sight of Yusal.

"Will?" Selethen said, his face puzzled. "Your apprentice? Where would he find men to rescue us?"

Halt smiled. "He has his ways."

Selethen frowned. "A pity he didn't find a way to bring more then."

"Do you think we should go down and lend a hand?" Halt gestured to the stubborn line of

fighters, forming a perimeter around the base of the platform. Selethen looked at him, cut his sword back and forth experimentally to test its balance, and nodded.

"I think it's time we did," he said.

"May, can you shift?" Halt asked. "That wolf of yours could come in very helpful at the moment." She shook her head.

"Those ropes… I don't know what they did to me, but I can't change, I already tried. Maybe in a few moments, if we're lucky." She answered.

"Then join the fight with those swords of yours." Selethen said.

May grinned and ran forward, jumping off the stage and fighting her way through the crowd. Looking for Amir. He betrayed her and she'll make him regret it. She picked up a second sword on her way, and found herself using the swords a bit less clumsily. Still not as good as she was with her own swords, but better at least. She finally found the person she was looking for and started to fight him.

"Ah, I thought you might come after me." He taunted. His eyes cold, yet hateful.

"You betrayed me." May said, staying in a defensive stance. Amir slashed forward, and May blocked it.

"Not really, I just did as I was told. You were my assignment all along. I had to gain your trust and find out your weak spots. Seems like I did." He grinned and hit her in her left side. May flinched and let out a yelp.

"It was damn easy too. As soon as I started to speak of my 'family' you turned soft to me. You have to meet them once this is over, I think they'd be happy to meet you." He added when he cut her cheek.

"If you can't shift, your fighting is weaker, and you leave your left side unprotected." Amir commented, as he hit her again. May felt something warm streaming down her side, but chose to ignore it.

"Then we have loverboy over there." Amir pointed to Gilan with his sword. "After I'm done with you, I'm going to go after him." This set May off. Her blood was boiling and he took a step forward, bringing her sword down on Amir in the same time.

"Don't. You. Ever. Touch. Gilan." She said. With each word, she slashed, hacked or cut him. Amir began to have trouble with blocking her attacks, each time more and more. When he recovered from the shock, he began fighting back again. Each stroke stronger, and angrier. He was not going to lose to a girl.

May narrowed her eyes at, who she tought was her friend, and fought him off with some effort. After a while she felt something spart within her, and knew her shifting had returned. She grinned and looked at Amir.

"Looks like you're out of luck." She said. May tossed the swords aside. A jet black large wolf took her place. She growled and jumped forward, pinning the tualaghi to the ground.

"I give up. You win." Amir quickly said. The wolf growled again and punched him in the face with her paw, knocking him out in the progress.

* * *

Gilan moved into the thin rank of defenders ringed around the platform and began wielding the unfamiliar curved sword as if he had been using one all his life. The speed and power of his slashing attacks cut through the Tualaghis' defences like a knife through butter. Men fell before him, or reeled away, clutching wounds in pain, sinking slowly to the ground. But, in spite of the confusion around him, Gilan was searching the veiled faces for one in particular, the man who had taken such pleasure in beating him on the road to Maashava.

Now he saw him. And he saw recognition in the man's eyes as he shoved his way through the press of fighting men to confront the young Ranger. Gilan smiled at him but it was a smile totally devoid of any warmth or humour.

"I was hoping we'd run into each other," he said. The Tualaghi said nothing. He glared at Gilan above the blue veil. Already imbued with a deep hatred of these foreign. bowmen, he had seen another half dozen of his comrades fall before their arrows this morning. Now he wanted revenge. But before he could move, Gilan spoke again.

"I think it's time we saw all of your ugly face, don't you?" he said. The curved sword in his hand flicked almost negligently up and across, with the speed of a striking snake. It slashed the blue veil at the side, where it was attached to the kheffiyeh, cutting through it and letting the blue cloth fall, so that it hung by one side. There was nothing extraordinary about the face that was revealed, except for the fact that the lower half, usually covered by the veil, was a few shades lighter in tone than the browned, wind- and sun-burnt upper half. But the eyes, already filled with hate for Gilan and his kind, now blazed with rage as the Tualaghi leapt forward, sword going up for a killing stroke.

It clanged against Gilan's parry, and the Tualaghi drew back for another attack, attempting a hand strike this time. But Gilan caught the other man's blade on the crosspiece of his own weapon, then, with a powerful twisting flick of the wrist, turned the other man's sword aside and went into a blindingly fast attack. He struck repeatedly at the other man, the strikes seeming to come from all angles at virtually the same time. The sword in his hand blurred with the speed of his backhands, forehands, overheads and side cuts.

The Tualaghi was an experienced fighter. But he was up against a swordmaster. Gilan drove him back, the defenders on either side of him advancing with him to protect his flanks. The Tualaghi's breath was coming in ragged gasps. Gilan could see the perspiration on his face as he tried to avoid that sweeping, glittering blade. Then his guard dropped for a moment and Gilan, stretching and stamping with his right foot, drove forward in a classic lunge, the curved sword upturned by his reversed wrist, and sank the point deep into the Tualaghi's shoulder. Gilan withdrew his blade as the sword dropped from the other man's hand. Blood was beginning to well out of the wound, soaking the black robes. Gilan lowered the point of his sword. As if by some unspoken agreement, the fighting around them stopped for a moment as the other combatants watched. 'You can yield if you choose,' he said calmly. The Tualaghi nodded once, his eyes still burning with hate.

"I yield," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Gilan nodded. He stepped back and his

foot twisted as he stepped on the arm of a Bedullin warrior who had fallen earlier in the battle. He glanced down. His eyes were distracted for no more than a fraction of a second, but it was enough for the defeated Tualaghi. Left-handed, he drew a curved knife from his belt and leapt forward at the young Ranger.

There was a massive whistling sound, then a great whump! The Tualaghi stopped in mid-leap, seeming to fold double over the huge blade Horace had swung in a horizontal sweep. Horace withdrew the sword and the warrior crumpled to the stony ground of the square, with no more rigidity or resistance than his blood-soaked robes themselves.

"Never take your eyes off them," Horace said to Gilan, in an admonishing tone. "Didn't MacNeil ever tell you that?"

Gilan nodded his thanks. The lull in the fighting that had come when he thrust at the Tualaghi now continued as the two groups of enemies stood facing each other. It was a moment when the Arridi-Bedullin force might have claimed victory but a voice rang out across the square and the moment passed.

Yusal was rallying his troops for one last effort.

* * *

**A/N Well how about that. Only a few moments left until the battle is over... And then Will will (haha) have to come down, and meet May, again.**

elvishrangerwolf: **No. Not in a next story, or in another. She already has a wolf form, don't push your luck.**

Something like me: **Doesn't matter, you reviewed last chapter, right? Thank you for the kind review. Will will (this just seems to happen a lot) be more in the story from now on.**

Seth 8627: **Yeah, I do. Thank you very much.**

Occea: **Sadly, I'm not joking. The dog wanted to play with the cat, and it ended badly for her. Thanks for your review though.**

**You know the drill, reviews make me happy.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N Yes two updates in one day, I'm bored okay. I've already seen one and a half season of supernatural, two movies, three episodes of Game of thrones, I've already scrolled down 9gag, tumblr and I've randomly watched youtube video's. There's not much you can do when you can't walk.**

* * *

Chapter 15.

"Riders of the Blue Veil! Tualaghi warriors! Listen to me!"Yusal's harsh, grating tones rang out over the market square in the sudden silence that had greeted the pause in combat. As one, Tualaghi, Arridi and Bedullin all turned to look at him.

He was on the eastern side of the square, standing on a market stall to allow him to address them. Halt noted the rough bandage wound round his upper arm. The bandit war leader had made his way clear of the execution platform in the confused moments when Will had begun shooting. Now he had managed to regroup. A force of twenty men stood around him, weapons ready, faces covered by the ubiquitous blue veils.

The square was empty now of townspeople, except for those who had been caught up in the battle between the two forces and now lay in crumpled heaps on the stony ground. Perched high on the watchtower, Will heard the Aseikh's words too. But Yusal was hidden from Will's sight by the buildings along the northern side of the square.

"Look around you! Look at the enemy! There are barely forty of them!" Yusal continued. And he was right. The raiding force had been hard pressed in the battle and many of them had fallen, never to rise again. The remainder were grouped defiantly in front of the platform where Halt and the others were to have been executed.

"We outnumber them! If we work together, we can crush them!" There was a sullen growl of assent from the throats of the Tualaghi warriors. They, too, had lost men in the hard fighting. But they had started with a four to one superiority and they had maintained the ratio. As Yusal made his point, they began to realise that it was well within their power to crush the small band who opposed them.

"Seley el'then! I will give you one chance. One chance only. Throw down your weapons and surrender!" Selethen laughed harshly.

"Surrender? Do you think we believe you'd show us mercy, Yusal? You were about to kill us all!" He said. Yusal spread his hands in front of him.

"I'll offer you the mercy of a quick death," he replied. "Otherwise, you'll linger for days in agony. You know my men are masters of slow torture."

Selethen looked sideways at Halt. "That's true enough," he said quietly. "I think we'd be better to die with our weapons in our hands."

Halt went to reply, then stopped. Somewhere close by, he could hear a faint humming noise, a hum that gradually rose in pitch and intensity. He had no idea what it was. He shook his head, dismissing the strange sound.

"I'm with you," he said. "We'll fight on. You never know when something's going to turn up."

Yusal had waited several minutes for Selethen's reply. When he realised none was forthcoming, he raised his arm above his head, preparing to give the signal to his men for one final, overwhelming attack on the smaller group.

"Very well. You've rejected my offer. Now you'll pay. Tualaghi riders, let…" His words were cut off in a strangled grunt of pain and his hands flew up to his forehead. A solid smacking sound could be heard clearly around the square. Then Yusal's hands dropped and revealed a mask of blood covering his eyes and upper face, flowing down to soak into his blue veil. He took one faltering step, missing the edge of the stall he was balanced on, and fell full length to the hard ground below. He lay there, unmoving.

The Tualaghi stirred uneasily. Their leader had been cut down in mid-sentence. Yet there had been no evident weapon that had struck him, only that ugly smacking sound followed by a river of blood flowing down his face.

The desert riders were superstitious. They believed that djinns and devils and spirits all lived in these ancient mountains. Now one of them, virtually out of thin air, seemed to have struck down their leader with terrifying force. They began to back away from the defensive line of Arridi and Bedullin warriors, muttering to one another, asking what had happened to Yusal. One of his lieutenants, braver than the rest, sprang up onto the stall in place of his leader and tried to rally them.

"Tualaghi warriors!" he yelled, his voice breaking. "Now is the time for…" Again there was a meaty smack and, like Yusal, the man's hands flew to grasp at a sudden, vicious wound that appeared on his forehead. He lurched, grabbed for the stall's awning, missed and fell to the ground. He knelt there, doubled over, clutching his face and moaning in pain.

This time, Halt saw Evanlyn, at the rear of the platform, slowly lowering the sling. She caught his eye and gave him a grim smile. He noticed that the necklace of heavy marble stones was no longer round her throat.

"Well, what do you know about that?" he asked of no one in particular. Demoralised, confused and filled with superstitious fear, the Tualaghi began to back away. Then there was a chorus of battle cries and the clash of weapons as Umar and the rest of his force burst into the square. The Bedullin warriors fanned out quickly into a half circle and the Tualaghi found themselves surrounded, with Umar and his men at their back and the forty determined defenders before them.

The Tualaghi were essentially bandits and thieves. They would fight without mercy, but only when the odds were solidly in their favour. A four to one advantage was the sort of ratio they looked for in a battle. When the numbers were virtually even, and with no leader to spur them on, their eagerness for battle tended to fade away.

Slowly at first, then with increasing frequency, their weapons began to fall to the ground at their feet.

* * *

"There's one last little thing to take care of," Erak said.

Umar's troops had disarmed the remaining Tualaghi and were busy subduing them, tying their hands behind their back and leaving them seated cross-legged in the square. Yusal had been bound and taken under guard to the store room he had used as a prison. The Aseikh was still dazed and only semi-conscious. The heavy marble stone from Evanlyn's sling had left him with a severe concussion.

"Toshak?" Svengal answered him.

Erak nodded. "Toshak. The treacherous swine has stolen off somewhere in all the confusion."

"He was in front of the platform when the whole thing began," Halt pointed out.

Evanlyn nodded. "But he started to move towards those colonnades when Will began shooting," she said. She looked around. "Where is Will, anyway? What's keeping him?"

* * *

Will knelt in the rubble beneath the watchtower, his bow and quiver discarded, Aloom's head resting on his knee. The Arridi lieutenant was dying. The loss of blood from his multiple wounds had been too great. As Will had dropped lightly from the wall to tend to him, he glanced up and saw the fat trader who had betrayed them, still standing, frozen to the spot, watching them.

"Find a surgeon," he ordered and, as the man hesitated, he repeated the command. "Go! Get a surgeon! Do it quickly!" The fat man's eyes betrayed him. They slid away from Will's and he turned to go. Will's cold voice stopped him.

"Wait!" The man turned back. Still he would not make eye contact with the Ranger. "Look at me," Will commanded and, slowly, the man raised his eyes. "If you run away, if you don't come back, be certain that I will hunt you down," Will told him. "I promise you won't enjoy that."

He saw the fear of certain retribution slowly overcoming the treachery in the man's eyes and the trader nodded quickly. Then he turned and slunk off into the alley behind him.

Aloom was muttering feverishly. Will unstrapped the small canteen from the Arridi's belt and trickled a few drops of water into the man's mouth. Aloom's eyes cleared for a few moments and he looked up at Will.

"Did we win?" he asked. Will nodded.

"We did," he assured him. He saw the relief in Aloom's eyes. Then the lieutenant tried to struggle to a sitting position, and Will had to restrain him gently.

"Rest," he said. "There's a surgeon coming."

"The Wakir?" Aloom said, then stopped and took several ragged breaths, as if the mere effort

of speaking exhausted him. "Is he safe?" Again Will nodded.

"He's fine. I saw him with Halt when it was all over. Something happened to Yusal," he added inconsequentially, still trying to understand what had gone on in the square. He had heard Yusal's voice suddenly cut off in a cry of agony. Yet he knew none of his friends had a bow with them.

Aloom had drifted into a state of delirium again, as if the news that his lord was safe was enough for him. His arms and legs began to twitch and his breath was coming in ragged bursts.

Will heard a soft patter of footsteps approaching in the alley and reached for the hilt of his saxe knife. He had recovered it from the body of the dead Tualaghi when he first climbed down from the wall. Two figures emerged from the shadows of the alley and he recognised the fat trader. Beside him was an older man, carrying a leather satchel over one arm.

"This man is a healer," the trader said and his companion came forward, dropping to his knees beside the muttering lieutenant. He looked around, saw Will's discarded cloak lying close by and rolled it into a makeshift pillow. Then he placed it under Aloom's head, allowing Will to move free. He examined the wounded man briefly, looked up at Will.

"Your friend?" he asked. Will nodded. He'd only known Aloom for a few days but the man had held off three swordsmen to give Will the chance to save the others. You couldn't ask more of a friend than that. The surgeon shook his head.

"I can give him something to ease the pain, nothing more," he said. "He has lost too much blood." Will nodded sadly.

"Do it," he said and watched as the healer took a small vial from his satchel and allowed several drips of a clear liquid to fall into Aloom's mouth, onto his tongue. In a few seconds, Aloom began breathing more freely. His chest rose and fell more evenly. Then the breaths came more slowly until, finally, they stopped. The surgeon looked up at Will.

"He's gone," he said and Will nodded sadly. He glanced up and saw the trader watching him fearfully. The man obviously, was remembering how he had betrayed the two strangers to the Tualaghi. Now one of them was dead and the other had shown that, young as he was, he was not a man to cross. The trader wrung his hands together and moved forward, pleading for mercy. He dropped to his knees.

"Lord, please ... I didn't know you were ... " he began. Will cut him off with a contemptuous hand gesture. The man had betrayed them, he knew. But he had also returned with a surgeon. Suddenly, Will felt there had been enough killing on this day.

"Oh, go away," he said quietly. "Just ... go away."

The man's eyes widened. He couldn't believe his luck. He rose slowly,. turned away. Then he hesitated, making sure Will hadn't changed his mind. Finally, reassured, he scuttled into the alley. Will heard his soft shoes pattering on the broken stones for a few minutes, then there was silence. The surgeon regarded him with sympathy. He had laid Aloom out with his hands folded over his chest. Will retrieved his cloak, Aloom had no further use for it. He spread the lieutenant's own cloak over the still form, covering the face. Then he felt in his purse and handed the surgeon a silver coin.

"Stay with him?" he asked. "Watch over him until I come back."

He reached down, retrieved his bow and quiver and headed off down the alleyway to the market square.

* * *

May had shifted back and sat with her back to one of the stalls on the market. She was tired. Slowly her eyes closed, until Gilan's voice made them open again.

"Don't close your eyes. Please don't." He said as he kneeled in front of her. "I don't want to lose you again." May let out a weak laugh.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just tired." She answered. She tried to close her eyes again, but Gilan stopped her.

"I can tell you're lying. I can always tell." He responded. He now noticed the cut in her side, still bleeding. "I'm going to find you a healer." He stood up to leave, and May grabbed his leg.

"Don't leave… Please." She said. Gilan nodded and thought for a moment. Then he turned around and picked her up. He started walking towards the others on the other side of the marker square.

"Then I'll just have to take you to a healer." He said. May hummed in response and rested her head on his chest. "Don't close your eyes. I told you, right? Talk to me, keep talking to me." May's eyes shot open again and she looked up.

"I need to stop attracting danger, don't I?" She asked him with a humorless laugh.

"Yes, you certainly do. How did this happen anyway?" Gilan responded.

"Amir…" She said. "I fought him, and he fought back. He's good. Better than me." May closed her eyes again. "I know, don't shut your eyes. But I'm just so, so tired Gil."

"Then keep talking." Gilan ordered.

"Since when did you get so bossy?" May asked.

"Since you're a magnet to pain and danger." Gilan shortly responded.

"Fine then, what do I have to talk about?" May asked. "I don't know what to say." She weakly added.

"Then sing me a song." Gilan said. May let out a soft chuckle but started to sing anyway. Very soflty, and it sounded a bit weak, but she sang cabin in the trees.

"_Going back to the cabin in the trees,  
__going back to the creek beneath the hill.  
__There's a guy used to live when I left,  
__I doubt he'll be waiting for me still."_

She edited the lyrics a little, so it wouldn't sound weird to her. She kept singing it over and over again, and each time it was a little bit weaker. When Gilan finally found Halt and the others, it wasn't more than a wisper.

"I need a healer." He said to them as soon as he was close enough. "Any idea where I can find one?" Selethen nodded.

"One of my men here is one, I saw him a few moments ago." He then said a few words in his native tongue, and one of the Arridi appeared. The man ran to May and ordered Gilan to put her down. When May felt movement she slowly opened her eyes, only to see a new face next to Gilan's.

"Good you're awake, I need you to stay awake. Can you do that." The new face said. May tried to response, but her voice abandoned her.

"Are you good here? We still need to find that traitor Toshak." Svengal asked Gilan. He nodded and told them to find him. Svengal thanked him and turned away and to the others.

* * *

"The trouble is, he could have gone anywhere once he made it this far," Horace said when svengal caught up with the others. Halt nodded, chewing his lip reflectively. Beyond the colonnades that lined the market square, they found a maze of narrow, winding streets and crowded buildings.

"We'll just have to keep looking till we find him," he said. "At least he'll be easy to spot."

"What's all that shouting?" Evanlyn interrupted. From the square, they could hear voices

raised, calling the alarm. In a group, they ran back through the rear door of the coffee house

they had just left, then out onto the square once more.

"It's Toshak!" Svengal yelled.

Diagonally opposite them, the Skandian traitor was seated astride a rearing horse, striking left and right with a battleaxe at a group of Bedullin warriors who had tried to stop him.

He beat his way clear, leaving two of them lying ominously still, and set his horse towards the wide entrance to the road leading to the main gate. Svengal ran forward a few paces and launched his spear after the retreating horseman, but it was a futile gesture and the missile landed, clattering, twenty metres short. Then Halt heard that strange humming sound again, rising gradually in pitch. He glanced around to see Evanlyn, feet braced apart, whirling the long leather sling around her head, letting the speed build up.

"He's wearing a helmet," he cautioned. Toshak had been prepared to fight his way clear. He

was fully armed and Halt knew that the sling would be useless against his heavy iron helmet. "I know," said Evanlyn briefly, her brow furrowed in concentration. Then there was a whistling slap as she cast the heavy marble ball after the fleeing Toshak. It flew across the square, too fast for the eye to follow, and slammed painfully into the target she had set herself, the horse's rump.

Stung by the sudden burning impact, the horse reared and lost its footing on the cobbles of the square. It staggered sideways on its rear legs, trying to regain its balance. The unexpected, violent movement and change of direction was too much for Toshak and he slid backwards over the horse's withers, to fall with a crash on the cobblestones.

"Good shot," Halt told Evanlyn. She grinned.

"I figured he'd sit a horse as well as most Skandians," she said. Momentarily winded, Toshak regained his feet to find himself surrounded by a ring of vengeful Bedullin. The desert warriors circled him cautiously, kept at bay by the threat of the massive battleaxe. A true Skandian, Toshak hadn't released his grip on the weapon when he fell. He eyed the circle of enemies now, determined to sell his life dearly. Toshak might be a traitor but he was no coward.

"All right," he said, to nobody in particular. "Who's going to be first?"

"I think that would be me."

Erak shouldered his way through the Bedullin warriors and stood facing his enemy. Toshak nodded several times, and smiled. He knew he was going to die but at least he'd have the satisfaction of taking the hated Oberjarl with him. He glanced down scornfully at the Tualaghi sabre Erak was carrying. It looked no bigger than a dagger in the Oberjarl's massive fist.

"You're fighting an axe with that toothpick, Erak?" he sneered. Erak studied the weapon and pursed his lips. He looked round the watching circle and saw a better alternative. He removed his kheffiyeh and wrapped it round the palm and fingers of his left hand. Then he set the sabre down and reached his right hand out to Horace.

"D'you think I could borrow that bodkin of yours, Horace?" he said. Horace stepped forward, reversed the huge executioner's sword and placed the hilt in Erak's outstretched hand. "Be my guest," he said.

Erak swiped the long sword back and forth several times, then nodded in satisfaction.

"That'll do," he said. "Now step back, everyone. I've got work to do." The circle of spectators quickly backed off several paces as he launched himself at Toshak, the sword swinging down in a blow that would have split the traitor down to the waist. There was a massive, ringing clang as Toshak caught the blow on the top of his double-bladed axe head. He twisted his wrists, jerking the sword to one side, then it was his turn and he swung in a flailing round arm blow with the axe.

Erak leapt back just in time, the heavy double-bladed head whooshing through the air only millimetres from his ribs. He was already counterattacking with the sword and this time Toshak swayed to one side, letting the huge blade slice down just clear of him, striking sparks from the stones on the ground. He tried an overhead cut and now Evanlyn understood why Erak had bound his hand with the kheffiyeh. He gripped the blade with his left hand and the hilt in his right to block the force of the axe blow. A grip on the hilt alone wouldn't have had sufficient leverage to stop the massive axe, she realised.

The two men strained against each other for several seconds, their weapons locked together. They were both massively built, each one as powerful as an ox. But Erak had been a prisoner for some weeks now and his strength was reduced by the meagre diet and the punishment he had taken from his captors. In a straight-out contest of brute strength like this, Toshak had the advantage and he began to force the Oberjarl back, a pace at a time.

Realising he was overmatched, Erak struck out quickly with a flat-footed kick to Toshak's thigh. The blow staggered the traitor and Erak was able to spin away, leaping suddenly to avoid a lightning fast axe stroke as Toshak recovered his balance. Then they rushed at each other again and stood toe to toe, hammering blows at each other. Parrying and blocking, sliding to one side to evade each other's weapons and beating at each other in a final trial of strength and speed. There was no science or subtlety to it. Each used the advantage his weapon gave him, Erak the extra reach of the sword, Toshak the massive weight of the battleaxe.

And it was that weight that began to tell as he rained blow after blow down at Erak, forcing the weakened Oberjarl onto the defensive. Svengal watched in an agony of concern as his leader began to give ground, a few centimetres at a time at first, then in gradually greater amounts. A light of triumph came into Toshak's eyes as he saw the Oberjarl faltering, felt him giving way. He redoubled the effort he was putting into his strokes, feeling Erak's weakening resistance, seeing his knees buckle slightly with each blow. Now Toshak was swinging two blows to Erak's one and the momentum of the battle was with him and it could only be a matter of time.

Erak's eyes were haunted and his breath came in ragged gasps. He caught one final, overpowering axe blow on the blade of the sword and the massive force behind it buckled his knees and drove him back and down onto the cobbles. There was a groan from the spectators as they saw the Oberjarl fall. Toshak leapt forward with a snarl of triumph, the mighty axe rising in a two-handed grip for the killing blow. Then he saw something strange.

Erak was smiling. Too late, Toshak realised he had been tricked. Erak was nowhere near as tired and clumsy as he had seemed. And he was holding a weapon with a much longer reach than any battleaxe. With a mighty roar, Erak used his left arm to thrust himself up from the cobbles while he drove the sword deep into Toshak's unprotected body. Then, releasing the sword, he sidestepped the axe stroke that came half a second too late and watched his enemy, impaled by the terrible sword, stagger, drop his axe and fall to the ground.

Toshak's eyes were wide open, in pain and fear. His fingers scrabbled awkwardly on the cobbles and he was mouthing something to Erak. The Oberjarl understood and nodded. With the toe of his boot, he nudged the axe alongside his enemy's scrabbling hand. Toshak's fingers closed over the haft and he nodded once. Skandians, Horace knew, believed that if they were to die in battle without a weapon in their hand, their soul would wander for all eternity. Even Toshak didn't deserve that.

"Thank... you…" Toshak sighed, the words almost inaudible. Then his eyes closed and he died.

"You should have left him to wander," Svengal said coldly. Erak looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"Would you?" he asked and Svengal hesitated. At the end, Toshak had fought well and that counted for a lot with Skandians.

"No," he admitted.

* * *

**A/N There, chapter done. I really have nothing better to do at the time.**

Seth 8627: **You don't have to. It took me like, three hours to update again :)**

Guest: **Yeah, I do have bad luck. At least I don't have to go to school this week. You got that feeling, because she did get hurt. May always gets hurt. Maybe I should stop writing May getting hurt. *But it's so easy!* Oh shut up evil me. Okay, I'm officially going crazy, I am writing to my evil self in a review response...  
PS. Not really, I updated at 11:43 in the morning where I'm from. Time-zones just make it seem crazy early.**

**Yeah that's it for today, I think. Maybe again tomorrow!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N Hello, it's very late here, but I wanted to update :P**

* * *

Chapter 16.

May woke up with a yawn. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She had no idea where she was. In a room, but that's as far as she got. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. She was on a bed, and lied still for a few moments.

"You've been asleep an entire day, and when you finally wake up, you yawn." Gilan said. May turned her head to find him, he stepped out of the shadows and sat next to her on the bed.

"You'd probably do the same, genius." She replied. May sat up with some trouble, Gilan tried to help her, but she pushed him away. "I got this." She told him.

"Sure you do." Gilan scepticly replied. May gave him an annoyed look, but shook her head after that.

"I guess you want some answers, right?" May asked him.

"Yes, that would be helpful." Gilan responded. "But, I'm not the only one with questions. Do you think you can walk?" May nodded and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Gilan stood up and helped her stand. May took a step, but her legs weren't strong enough to keep her standing, so she fell. Luckily Gilan caught her.

"Looks like you can't." He muttered.

"I don't get it, I got stabbed in my side. There's nothin wrong with my legs." May asked. "Right?"

"You don't just walk with your legs May, you use your whole body. So yes, you need your side to walk." Gilan explained. He picked her up, like he had done the day before, and walked outside.

"Where are you taking me?" May asked. "Put me down, I can walk on my own."

"No you can't. Have you already forgotten that you fell? And we're going to see a friend." Gilan replied. May was silent for a long time before she answered.

"Fine." She said. Gilan hummed and kept walking.

"Wait. What happened to Toshak?" May asked after another silence.

"He died. Erak killed him in a fight. I don't know exactly what happened, because I was with you." Gilan replied.

"Sorry." May said after another silence. She didn't say anything after that as well.

"What's going on? You're quiet." Gilan said, noticing the absence of noise.

"Nothing, I'm fine." May instantly replied. Gilan looked at her like he knew she was anything but fine.

"How do you keep seeing through that?" May asked Gilan.

"I know you." He grinned at her.

"Fine, I was thinking about the past two years, and my memories. I'm trying to figure out how much is real, and how much was lies from Daniel." May finally said. "Gil, I did horrible things. Terrifying things. How can I forgive myself, how can anyone forgive me after everything I have done."

"It couldn't be that bad?" May turned silent again, she sighed and shook her head.

"I've killed, Gilan, I've slaughtered, I've been hurting people for no reason. I've watched the Tualaghi kill an entire caravan and I didn't do anything. I've even tried to wipe out a town once. So yes, it is that bad." She said, her voice strangly cold. They didn't speak after that, not until they got to the small inn where the others were.

* * *

It was late in the evening, so Gilan and May joined the others for dinner. Everyone else had already had a proper meal earlier, but May didn't get that chance since she got thrown in that cell. She didn't say much during dinner, but that was probably because she was focused on eating. Every question she got, was answered quickly or with: "food now, questions later." When she was finally done, May started answering questions.

"You were hungry." Evanly commented dryly. "Horace is noting compared to you right now."

"I didn't eat much for the past week and a half." May replied.

"We've only been in that cell for five days." Horace stated, a bit confused.

"I wasn't very hungry lately. I had a lot on my mind, and I sort of only ate when," She hesitated for a moment before finishing her sentence. "When Amir made me eat." Only now she noticed Will staring at her. She stared back and raised her eyebrows.

"See something you like? Too bad, I'm taken." She said when Will didn't do anything.

"Why did you dye your hair?" He asked, ignoring her statement. "And why are you here? Why did Yusal think you were a traitor? What happened to you when you left?"

"I see you haven't changed at all." May laughed. "Still asking one hundred questions at a time. But to answer them, red is too noticable here. I was ordered to. Yusal was my employer, sort of, and I turned my back on him when I found Halt, Evanlyn, Svengal, Horace and Erak. I found my brother and joined him, well after I tried to kill him." May left out as many details as she could, but she knew she would't get away with that.

"Oh." Will only replied.

"May…" Halt started.

"Halt…" May replied, still hoping they wouldn't ask any further. She looked at Gilan for support but he shook his head.

"I'm not going to talk you out of this one, I was a mess after you left and I'd like to know what happened while you were gone." He said to her. May looked around the table, and saw that everyone agreed on that.

"You really want to know?" Everyone nodded. "There's no way out of this." Another nod. "It's a really long story, you still want to hear it?" Again a nod. "And…"

"Oh just tell us what happened." Horace cut her off.

"Okay then." May replied to Horace. "But first, I want you to know that I'm not proud on everything I did."

* * *

**~A little less than two years ago~**

* * *

May looked around the harbor. She had just gotten off the ship, and she was glad too, she still hated being on a boat. Once she reached the shore of Auraluen she managed to get a ride from a sailor, to Gallica. She managed to convince the man she was a full fledged ranger and that she needed a ride to Gallica. At times it could come in helpful that she was a good liar. No one would see through them, well except Gilan and Halt.

Her heart hurt a little when she tought of them. May shook her head and pushed those feelings aside. She couldn't afford that now. May tugged on Hunters reigns, pulling him with her. The harbor was full of people, and she didn't want to step on anyone.

Once she was out of the harbor, she climbed on top of him. The cowl of her hood pulled up, and she rode off. As far away from the town as she could. She was hoping Gilan wasn't stupid enough to follow her, but she couldn't be careful enough. Her plan was simple. Run away so she couldn't hurt anyone anymore. Find Daniel, and make him pay for what he took from her.

She heard him and Alex speaking of leaving to Gallica soon, so this was her best chance at the moment. So here she was. In Gallica, to find a man who was haunting her in her nightmares.

She rode for the rest of the day, until the sun had set. She stopped at the side of the road, and went further into the forest that lied next to it. She took off Hunter's saddle and let him graze. She shifted to her wolf form, and lied down. She wouldn't have to set up a tent like this.

* * *

My woke up early the next morning, like always. She didn't dream very well, like always. May yawned and shifted to human. She looked around and put a fire together. When it was burning, she got a pot from her bag, together with some coffee. She got some water from a creek nearby and waited until it boiled.

After she ate some bread and had her coffee, May packed up and got ready to leave. There would be a town a few miles from here. She would start there with her search for her brother. And that's how she would play it. She was just a poor little girl, looking for her family. Her mother taught her Gallican, and she hoped that she still remembered everything she knew.

May looked at what little she had left of the money she earned in Hallasholm. It wasn't much, so she would have to find a way to earn more soon. Maybe she could pass as a travelling musician. She had her violin and she had some experience. Yes, that could work.

When May found the village, after being lost twice, she immediatly went to the local inn. It was a little pas mid-day, and she was hungry. She tought if she would come in as a violinist, people would be more open. So she bound Hunter's reigns to the wooden fence outside the inn, La pappilion blanco, and took her violin with her.

She walked in and went to the host as soon as she spotted him. He was a short, and a bit chubby man. May guessed he was about fourty. It seemed as if his buisness was going well. He had a round face, with red cheeks and a red nose. His eyes where deep blue and full of life.

* * *

**A/N French translations between these things (...)**

* * *

"Bonjour monsieu." (Hello sir.) May said to the man. He looked up from his book and smiled at her.

"Salut belle, Je m'appele Gasteau. Que puis-je faire pour vous?" (Hello beautiful, I am Gasteau. What can I do for you?" The man replied.

"Je suis Madeline, et une violiste, et je cherche d'un endroit pour la nuit." (I'm Madeline, and a violinist, and I'm looking for a place to stay.) May replied with a smile.

"Ne cherche plus, mon ami! Vous pouvez rester ici. Repas sur la maison, si vous rester pendant deux jours." (Look no more, my friend. Meals are on the house, if you stay for two days.) The man happily replied. May pretended to consider the offer for a moment.

"Je ne sais pas. Je cherche mon fère, je doiscontinuer rapidement." (I don't know. I'm looking for my brother, and I should leave as soon as I can.) May said while she flung her hair back over her shoulder.

"Je vais chercher de l'information pour vous. Mais cela prendra du temps." (I will find you information, but that will take some time.) He said. "Quel est votre frère?" (Who is your brother?)

"Daniel, Daniel Greensworht, D'Mourne." (Daniel, Daniel Greensworth, from Mourne) May said to him. "Je garde trois jours, si vous trouves quelque chose." (I will stay three days if you find something.)

"D'accord. Le pris de la chambre est trois pièces d'or. Comme je l'ai dit, repas sur la maison." (Deal, the room costs three gold pieces. As I said, your meals are free.) The man spoke, and they shook hands. May nodded and went outside to get the rest of her things. She made sure everyone who would walk by could see the violin, so they knew she would be at the inn that night. She was sure the innkeeper would spread the word aswell, but she can find out more when there where more guests at the inn.

May went to the back and put Hunter in the stable. She took the front door with her bags and followed the innkeeper to her room, after she gave him the money for it. She got a nice room. On the second floor, with a window overlooking the village and the forest behind it. She thanked the man, and asked if she could have something to eat at her room. Gasteau nodded and said his wife would bring it to her in a moment.

May put her bag on the bed when Gasteau was gone. She put her bow in the corner of the room, together with her quiver. She kept her knives though, you never know when that could come in helpful. She got back to her bag and sat down next to it. May took out a map of Gallica she took the day before and studied it. She would be about eighty miles off coast, in the town called Misreale. She'll stay here for three days, then leave in a southeast direction.

* * *

Later, in the evening already, May went downstairs to eat and play some songs. She took her violin with her and sat in the corner of the room. She saw that there where already a few people here, and that there were most likely more in their way. May nodded to the host, signalling him she was downstairs, and that she would play in a few moments. Gasteau smiled at her, and pointed at the fireplace, where he set up a chair for her. May mouthed a thanks to him and walked to it.

She sat down and unpacked her instrument. Before she started to play, May studied the violin. It was still the gleaming black wood, with the white rose painted on it. The engraving in the back still said the same.

_To R. G. My love, my life, my song. _

May smiled softly before she turned it around and started a lively song. Some people merely glanced in her direction, others turned to look at her with a little bit of interest. When the song was about a quarter through, a man asked a woman to dance. Soon a second couple followed, untill a quarter of the room was dancing to the tune.

When the song ended, the audience applauded, and May started another song. It wasn't as fast as the one before, but still upbeat and happy.

That's how the night went on. May played songs, until the wife of Gasteau brought her a plate of food, she ate then continued for a while. When it was late in the night, May called it a day and went upstairs. She earned a bit of money and May would go out to find some intel the next day.

She collapsed on her bed after she put away her violin. She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly, hoping the nightmares would leave her alone for one night.

But they didn't. They never did. The nightmares would always come, only now, they had taken a new form. It wasn't her family starring in it, no, this time it was someone else…

* * *

_May looked around, she was in a forest. Somewhere in Auraluen. It looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. A horse ran past her, with a tall man in a mottled cloak on it. May silently shifted to her raven and followed the man. Why she did not know. But she followed him. _

_The man stopped by an old cabin, two horses who were grazing outside neighed as a welcome, but the man didn't greet them back. Instead he jumped off and ran inside. May landed a few metres in front of him, to as him who he was, but the man ran right through her. _

_May stumbled back in surprise, but followed him once she recovered. She ran after the man, and followed him inside._

"_May's gone!" He spoke, and May knew it was Gilan. She didn't recognise him before due to the cloak, but she knew his voice._

"_Oh, we know." One of the men inside said. May recognised him as Halt, Will stood next to him. They where both smiling, it wasn't a warm smile, no it was unsettling._

"_We know, because we send her away." Will said. "Away from you. You're not worthy for her. And you let her get away. She only ran away because you let her."_

"_You where too weak to stop her." Halt added. Both him and Will cornered Gilan. "And we have no use for a weak man." Both of them took out their knives and attacked Gilan. May tried to stop them as they killed him, but she couldn't. She was invisible. No one would see her. No one would hear her. No one would feel her. All she could do is watch, as the man she loved was murdered by his friends._

* * *

**A/N There we go. From now on, until further notice, we're in May's past. I wanted to tell you what happened to May while she was gone. I hope you like it...**

Occea: **Thanks, I hope so as well. **

Seth 8627: **Yes, yes I do. I am a very mean and heartbreaking person to Gilan. And when will I ever let the chance pass to freak Will out? Never.**

elvishrangerwolf: **I will probably do another book/story/sequel, but I meant I will not use that winged wolf you suggested. I'm sorry if I was rude, I did not mean it to be.**

**Reviews make my day!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N Hello there! Another chapter just for you!**

**Oh, and from now on, everything said, is in Gallican or said otherwise. (I'm too lazy to translate everything)**

* * *

Chapter 17.

May woke up early. She always woke up early, but today a lot earlier than usual. She stared at the ceiling for about half an hour before she got up. The sun still had to rise, but May knew she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. She got dressed and slowly made her way downstairs.

It was only an hour until sunrise by now, and May decided to ride in the forest fo a while. She found Hunter in the stables and saddled him. She was about to leave when she realised something. She patted Hunter on his neck and ran to the door.

When she left the stables she ran into someone and fell down with that person. Both of them landed in the mud, or something else that was brown, but May would rather not think of that.

"By gorlog's beard." May swore.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming around the corner." The voice of a boy said. May wiped the mud out of her eyes and looked up. A young boy, not older that 15, was getting up. He looked a little like Gasteau, and she guessed he was his son.

"No, it's okay. I just forgot something and I thought no one would be up at this hour." May replied. The boy helped her up and May thanked him.

"You're Madeline, right? The violinist." The boy spoke. May nodded, and tried to get the mud out of her hair. "I'm Lance."

"Madeline, but you already knew that." May replied. "Is there some water nearby, so I can clean this?"

"Oh, sure, I'll get you some. Uh, go get something to eat, and I'll make sure there's some warm water you can use after that." Lance said. May nodded again and walked past him. Se walked back to Hunter and Loosened his saddle, so she wouldn't have to take it completely off. She told him she'd be back later and made her way back to the inn.

* * *

Before she entered the inn, she made sure most of her clothes were mud-free. She took her boots off and walked inside. She sat at the bar, and saw that Gasteau already had a plate ready.

"Ah, Madeline. I was about to bring you this." He told her. "What happened?" Gasteau asked as soon as he noticed her clothes and face.

"I met your son." May laughed. She needed the man to find information about her brother, so it would be best to keep him a friend. "Young man, about fifteen years old, always in a hurry would be my guess."

"So you met Lance. He's my second son." Gasteau said. "He's indeed always in a hurry, you have a good eye. May I ask why you are up at this early hour?"

"You may, I always wake up early to take my horse out to ride." May replied with a smile. "I was about to leave when I thought of something." May stopped when Gasteau handed her a plate with bread and a glass of water. "Thank you. My… father always told me I should never go anywhere without anything to defend myself."

"And he was right to say so. It's a dangerous world. Especially for women. But something tells me that you'll be fine." Gasteau said to her.

"I sure hope so. My father taught me how to use a bow and arrow, and I learned how to fight from a friend." May replied while eating.

"I asked around last night, for your brother. No Greensworth except you kid. I'm sorry, I hope you have better luck some other night." Gasteau said.

"It's okay, I didn't really count on it. Maybe I'll have some more luck next time." May said, after she said that Lance entered the room, still covered in mud.

"My mother put a bucket with warm water in your room." He said to May. "I'm sorry for getting you dirty miss."

"It's okay. I've had worse, believe me." May smiled at him. May finished her breakfast and excused herself.

She got upstairs to her room and cleaned herself of the, hopefully nothing else but, mud. She was glad she had a spare cloak, even though it was a deep blue one. May changed into a clean brown skirt, a black shirt and a green sleeveless vest. She cleaned her boots and put them on. When she was done, May strapped her swords on her back and went back to the stables.

* * *

She calmly rode out of the village, but once outside she let Hunter run. She rode him deep into the forest, and didn't stop for about an hour. When she did, May hopped off Hunter and looked around. She was near a small creek, in the middle of the forest.

May didn't have to put on a happy face here, so she let it fall. Her face changed into a stony expression and she sat down below the oak. She had taken a book with her to read. It was one of the things she had managed to take with her after Cahir killed her parents. It was old, and read a lot. Considering that it was still in good shape. There were no loose pages, or torn ones.

On the last page of the book, May kept a drawing she once got from Daniel. He was good, and on it was her entire family. Her mother, father Daniel and her. That was half of the drawing. Behind each family member was the animal they could become. A black wolf for her father, a white deer for her mother, A red and white fox for her, and a grey wolf for Daniel.

May read for a while, then she got up to get back to the inn. Something stopped her. Or someone.

"Leaving so soon darling?" Someone behind her said. May slowly turned around, and saw man leaning against a tree. He had a slim sword in his hands, with the tip resting on the ground. May looked around and saw at least two other men in the forest. She pulled the cowl of her cloak further over her head, so the men couldn't see her face anymore.

"No, don't be like that. Let us see your pretty face." a second man said. He was standing behind her, and May turned around to face him. She slowly reached for the knives on her belt, but the first man took a hold of her from behind.

"Now, now love. You don't want to do that, do you?" He asked. The man in front of her reached out his hand and grinned.

"Now let us see that pretty face of yours, shall we?" He said. He flicked the hood back and took a strand of hair in his hands.

"What a beautiful color." He grinned again. "Don't you think Maurice?" The man behind her laughed and took both her arms in one hand, the other runing through her hair.

"I've always liked red hair. We saw you play at le pappillion blanco, and we couldn't help but see how pretty you are." He said. May knew this was her chance to do something before it would get out of hand.

She stomped Maurice on his feet and slammed her head back, hitting his with it. He let her go, and May dived to the left. She rolled on and stood up. Unsheathing her throwing knife in the process.

"Fiesty little thing." The other man said, he slowly shook his head, like he was scolding a child. "Pity."

May saw the third man, who had been silent, in the corner of her eye, and she threw her knife at him. She hit him in the eye, causing another distraction. Maurice tried to grab her again, but May ducked between his arms and slid past him. She ran to Hunter, picking up her book while at it and threw the book in his open saddlebag. Before she could jump on top of him, the second man grabbed her, and threw her back.

May scrambled to her feet and saw that the three men where around her. May looked at each of them, The man she hit in his eye, held her knife in front of him. She narrowed her eyes before she spoke. Slowly and careful.

"I accept your surrender. Go now, while I allow it." She said. The three men burst out in laughter and May sighed. "Have it your way." She quickly unsheathed her twin swords and jumped at the first man. She kicked him in his lower stomach and hit him on the left side of his head with the flat side of her sword. He fell down, uncounsious. May landed and rolled further, she turned around on one knee and stood up again. The man with the sword, Maurice was already close enough to attack, so he did. May barely managed to block it, and lost one of her swords in the process.

"Took your daddy's sword with you?" He taunted. He slashed at her, and her other sword was knocked out of her hands as well. "He didn't teach you very well." May looked around, desperately trying to find a way out.

"Didn't he tell you that if you play with pointy things you get hurt?" Maurice spoke again. Then May grinned.

"Yes, he did say that. You want to know what he also used to say? He always said to me: 'Sweetheart, always remember what you are, no matter what.'" May said to him. Maurice looked at her confused, but May didn't give him the chance to ask her about it.

May shifted to her wolf form, and let out a low and dangerous growl. The two men's eyes widen in fear as they see the growling creature in front of them. May sank to her feet and jumped at the man in front of her. She knocked him over and jumped to the next man. He stumbled back and fell over a root that came out of the ground. May jumped on top of him, making him fall harder. He hit his head on a rock and went out cold.

Then May turned back to Maurice. She walked to him, slowly and still growling. Maurice threw his sword at her, and May evaded it easily. The man dropped to his knees and started begging.

"Please, please spare me. I will never hurt anyone again. I promise, just let me live." He pleaded. May shifted back to human and stood tall in front of him.

"Leave this place, and never return. And never speak of this, or I will find you." She coldy spoke. Maurice nodded and ran away, leaving his friends where they were. May picked up her swords and strapped them on her back. She calmly walked to Hunter and got on his back. Leaving everything in the forest behind her.

* * *

She went back to the inn and went upstairs with a quick hello to Gasteau. It was around noon, so he was busy with some guests. Once May was in her room she dropped on the bed, face-first. She was tired.

She got worked up and spend a little too much energy on shifting. Usually there were no problems with it. She could divide her energy very easily, but when that man started taunting her, she lost control. She let the energy slip away and into her shifting. She turned into a larger wolf because of that, but she was tired afterwards. She closed her eyes for a momen, but soon fell asleep.

* * *

Luckily, May woke up in time for dinner. She tuned her violin and took it downstairs. Repeating the night before. She played, ate, then played again. Only this night she decided to sing with some of the songs. The room was fuller than the night before, and May stayed a while after she was done playing her violin. She went to the bar, and ordered a drink. A man around her age soon sat next to her.

"Why is a pretty girl like you doing on her own in a place like this?" He asked. May fought the urge to roll her eyes. Smooth, real smooth.

"Making some money for the trip." May replied. Gasteau brought her her drink and May handed him a silver piece. "Looking for my brother." She added eventually.

"And who might your brother be?" The man asked.

"Daniel, Daniel Greensworth." May said. She drank from her drink and looked at the man next to her.

"Ah, Greensworth. Passed this town about a month ago. He stayed at some farmer's house." He said.

"What's the farmer's name?" She asked.

"Leronster" The man said. "It's left of the mill." May nodded and thanked him. She finished her drink and went upstairs. Leaving the man behind. She'd got talk to Leronster the next day.

* * *

Much later, May found herself unable to sleep. She was thinking too much. About nothing and everything at the same time. About everything that has happened the past year. And how long ago it seemed that she was sure about reality. Everything was so confusing, in Auraluen. Like there was something wrong, and she didn't know why.

Now, when she was alone, things seemed a bit less… wrong. And she hated herself for that. She wrote Gilan that she left because she didn't want to be a burden to him. But it was mostly because of pure selfishness. She left because things didn't make sense for her.

Eventually May sat up and walked to the window. She pushed it open and sat in the frame. She looked up and stared at the night sky through the clouds. After all this time, the stars still calmed her down. She looked at them for a while, before she tried to sleep again. Lucky her, she got some this time.

* * *

Halfway through the morning May decided to talk to the farmer. It wasn't far, so she walked. Letting Hunter rest for the day. She followed the path to the farm, and studied it for a while.

It was at the end of the village, near the edge of the forest. The windmill stood next to it, but other than that, not much was near it. The farm itself was a simple house. It had white walls and a thatched roof. A small barn stood next to it, and a few animals grazed in the fields.

There was a girl playing with a dog in the yard, and a woman was hanging up wet sheets. May flicked down her hood, and approached them.

"Hello, is this the Leronster farm?" She asked. The woman turned around.

"Who wants to know?" She said with a bitter edge to it.

"Madeline Greensworth." May said. "I heard you knew my brother, Daniel."

"Dan? Dan has a sister?" The little girl said, looking up from her game with the dog.

"Yes, and she's looking for him." May said to the girl. "Did you know him?"

"Yes," The mother took over. "We knew him. He never spoke of a sister though. Who are you, really?"

"I really am his sister, we haven't seen each other in a while. I thought he was dead until recently. Maybe he thought the same." May explained, hoping it would work.

"If you really are his sister, tell me one thing only he and you would know." The woman said. May thought for a moment, then decided to take a leap of faith.

"My family is… Different. Just don't run, and whatever you do, don't scream." May said. The woman nodded a bit hesitant, but she didn't look at her like she was crazy. May sighed and shifted. She hoped this would work. Considering Daniel only had a wolf form, May decided to shift to that.

When she was done, she stood there, watching, breathing, blinking. A minute passed. Then two, they were reaching three when the young girl jumped up and ran to May.

"Wolfie." She shouted happily. She threw her arms around May and hugged her. "You are just like Daniel. He can do the magic too." May shifted back and returned the hug.

"I know, that's why I want to find him. Not everyone is as… open minded as you, little one." May said to her. "Do you have any idea where he went?"

"South." The mother replied. " He went to Nuascer. It's about five days riding south. Ask anyone there, they should be able to help you."

"Thank you. I will not bother you any further." May replied, she got up and walked away. It appeared that she was going to Nuascer. She'd leave tomorrow, because she had a promise to keep. One night left until she would leave to find the man in her nightmares.

* * *

**A/N There, that's it. I have a lot of school stuff to work on this week, and I'm going to the elf fantasy fair Saturday (sort of like a comic con in the Netherlands, but more with anime and the middle ages.) And I still have to find a freakishly long wig for my Rapunzel cosplay. My friends and I are all going as Disney princesses XD**

Elvishrangerwolf: **Okay good. I was hoping you weren't. And will I right about... Oh write, haha, maybe I don't know. I will put up a warning if I do.**

Occea: **YES THEY ARE! But yeah, I'm a bit biased (is that right? I used google to find the word) because I wrote May... Thanks for the review.**

Seth 8627: **Thank you, and good luck with your exams. You'll probably read this once they're over, but good luck anyway. I hope you pass all of them.**

**REVIEWS MAKE ME NOT SAD, WHICH IS GOOD.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N GUYS! I MANAGED TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER EXACTLY 2700 WORDS! HOW? I DON'T KNOW! Okay enough caps lock. Here's the story. Oh, and I forgot to mention it last chapter, everything is in Gallican unless said otherwise. I edited the A/N last chapter so it's in there now.**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

Chapter 18

After six and a half day, May finally managed to get to Nuascer. It took longer because she, once again, got lost. She went to the local inn there, and asked the host if she knew where Daniel was. She told May that Daniel would come here every night to drink, and sometimes eat, so May saw her chance. She payed for one nigth and asked if it was alright if she played this night. The hostess happily agreed, some entertainment meant more people coming, and that meant more money.

So now May sat in her corner, with her eyes fixed to the door, lazily eating a meal she ordered. She already had a plan. It was a bit theatrical, but that didn't make it any less of a plan. When your brother betrays you and tortures you for a while, you're allowed to be a bit dramatic. Now, all she had to do was wait for Daniel.

Not long after that, he showed up. He entered with two other men, and greeted the hostess warmly. It's a good thing May asked her not to mention her. Her whole idea would have been useless if the hostess told Daniel about it. She decided to wait only a little more, before she would get started.

After that time, May got up and took her violin, that was next to her, with her. She sat in front of the fireplace and opened the case. Slowly and carefully, untill a few heads were looking at her with curiousity.

May started a song, that began with low strokes. She kept playing the low and ghostly melody before she started to sing.

"_Oh, Death, оh Death, oh Death,_

_Won't you spare me over til another year  
But what is this, that I cant see  
with ice cold hands taking hold of me_

_When God is gone and the Devil takes hold,  
who will have mercy on your soul  
Oh, Death, оh Death, oh Death,  
No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold  
Nothing satisfies me but your soul  
Oh, Death,  
Well I am Death, none can excel,  
I'll open the door to heaven or hell.  
Oh, Death, оh Death,  
my name is Death and the end is here…"_

She let the last tones fade away, before she looked at Daniel. He seemed to recognize her now and May grinned. She picked up the violin case and walked out of the now silent inn. Passing Daniel on the way out. She picked a spot in the shadows near the door, and waited.

* * *

She did not have to wait long. About five minutes after she left, Daniel walked out. His friends followed soon after. He looked around and searched for his little sister, when he couldn't see her, he silently cursed those rangers.

"Come out where I can see you coward." He shouted in Auraluen. **(From now on everything is back to normal unless otherwise said.) ** May laughed and stepped out of the shadows, appearing behind them.

"Oh, I'm the coward?" May said. "Hello to you too brother." She calmly put her violins case down, so the instrument wouldn't be damaged if there was a fight.

"May." Daniel said.

"Well yes, that appears to me my name. Tell me, who are your dogs following you around?" May responded, nodding at the two behind Daniel.

"Jason and Alastair." He said back. "Please, do tell. Why is my little sister here?"

"Unfinished buisness." May said to him.

"Oh?" Daniel said, asking her to go on.

"Yes." May said after a while. She slowly walked to the left. "I'm looking for this… man. I met him when I was very young, and we lost touch after a while. When I found him again, or he found me, he had changed. He tried to convince me to join him, but I didn't. Now I heard he's here." She looked at her brother. "Am I missing something? I believe I am. Oh, right. The idiot I once called my brother tried to KILL me."

"Listen, I had orders." Daniel started.

"You had orders. You had ORDERS!? And you decided to just follow them like a good little soldier. You decided not to question the mission to kill your own family." May shouted at this moment. "You just marched to Hallasholm, found your sister and thought: 'Well why don't I torture her, and then dispose of that brat when things get hot."

"It wasn't like that!" Daniel shouted back. "It wasn't. You have no idea what you're up against. I'm begging you May, please, just walk away." May laughed again, and it sounded a bit… Manically.

"No, you've dragged me to hell, and now I'm here to return the favor." She said. Out of nowhere, or so it seemed, May took out two throwing knives and threw them at the men behind Daniel.

She hit them both straight in the chest. They were dead before they hit the ground. May turned to Daniel and unsheather her swords. He carried his own, and took it out as well. Some of the people in the inn had heard the commotion and went outside. When they saw the siblings across eachother with drawn swords. Most of them just ran back inside. One ran in the opposite dirction, yelling somthing about 'getting help' The others, just stood there and watched.

"So be it." Daniel replied.

It was quiet, and no one moved. Untill it began. May jumped forward and trusted out her sword. Daniel blocked it easily, but wasn't prepared for the second sword, that hit him in his ribs. He stumbled back and stared at his sister in fear. Then, that fear vanished. Replaced by anger and determination, Daniel narrowed them and started to fight back.

He leapt forward and used an uppercut. May barely managed to block it, but she did. She jumped back and ran around him. She turned around and slashed at him with her sword. Daniel Avoided it by ducking at the right time. This gave May the chance to kick him where it hurt most-

* * *

"Hold up." Horace interrupted May's story back in Maashava. "You mean that you kicked a man… where the sun don't shine?" May stared at Horace, then she grinned.

"Yes, I did. I had the chance and I heard it really hurts." She replied. Horace turned red and looked away. Gilan and Will, surprisingly did the same.

"You boys are unbelievable." Evanlyn muttered. "You have a problem with her kicking someone, but none with her singing the death song."

"Yeah, well that's just a song." Will defended.

"One you only sing to someone you condemn to a horrible death, or to one you wish a horrible death." Evanlyn replied.

"Well at that moment, I wanted him dead. In the worst and most painful way I could thinkn of." May admitted, ashamed of herself.

"Don't worry I completely get why you did it," Evanlyn replied. "but I don't know what Horace's priorities are. Getting killed, or getting kicked in the-"

"All right, why don't we let May finish her story." Halt interupted. The others nodded, so May kept talking. Or started talking again.

* * *

Daniel doubled over in pain, and groaned. May looked at him with a wicked grin on her face.

"Looks like you're a dead man Danny." She said using his nickname. Daniel didn't reply, he just waited for her to come closer. When she did, he swung out his sword at her legs, making her fall down.  
May scrambled to her feet, but not before Daniel managed to kick away one of her fallen swords. She glared at him. If looks could kill, Daniel would have been dead a long time ago. He leapt forward and tried an uppercut. May jumped out of the way, but the sword grazed her shoulder. A trickle of blood streamed down, bus she knew it wasn't a deep cut.

She swung her sword out, but again Daniel managed to avoid it. May didn't hit anything and due to the force behind the blow, she stumbled. Daniel used this and kicked May in the back. She fell forward. She pushed herself up, and managed to roll out of the way just in time. Daniel already tried to behead her.

"It's no use May, you're not going to win." Daniel taunted. "Just give up. That would be better for both of us." He kicked her in her stomach, repeatedly. He then noticed the sword she still had in her hands. Daniel grinned and stepped on her hand, forcing May to drop it. He picked it up and hurled it away.

"Just give up." He repeated. May finally managed to grab his legs, making him fall back. May stood up and looked at her brother.

"You know I don't give up." She said to him. She couldn't see her sword, so she changed her plan. She took a step back, and shifted to her wolf form. Daniel looked surpised at fist, but then his gaze turned cold.

"I see you learned a new trick. Too bad that's something I can do as well." He replied. Daniel closed his eyes, then he was replaced by a grey, large wolf. A few wispers went around the people who stayed to watch. This wasn't something you see every day.

The two wolves circled each other. A black and white one, across a grey one. Both were waiting for the right time to attack. Untill the black wolf lost her patience. She jumped forward and rolled over with the grey wolf in her mouth. She tried to bite through his neck, but the grey wolf pushed her away. He stood up and bit her in her side.

She yelped and sprang away. When the grey wolf tried to jump on her, she shifted and flew away in her raven form. She landed a little away from the wolf in her panther form. She growled and charged at the wolf in front of her. They rolled back together both fighting to overpower the other one.

Eventually the wolf managed to do that. It had the panther below him, with his paws on her throath. She struggled to get free and to get air, but all attempts failed. Black spots danced at her vision, until she passed out completely.

* * *

When she woke up, she was bound to a chair. Her hair was hanging in her face. She struggled, but couldn't get loose. May sighed, and closed her eyes. She tried to shift, but she stopped when the ropes seemed to burn through her flesh. She shrieked and looked at the ropes. They had a green tint to them, but looked normal otherwise.

"Looks like you're awake then." A voice came from behind. May tried to look, bu she couldn't due to the ropes. Only now she noticed that she was in a tent. It was large, and there wasn't much in it. The chair she was strapped on, a table and another chair.

"Let me introduce myself, or re-introduce myself. I'm Alaric Greensworth. Remember me?" A man said. He stepped into her range of view and May's eyes widened. Then she groaned.

"Can't people just stay dead? Everyone I thought dead somehow seems to come back to life." May replied.

"Is that the sort of greeting you give to me?" Alaric asked her.

"I'm bound in a chair, after my brother tortured me. After I left everything behind to find him, to get even with him. So yes, father. That is the sort of greeting you get." May said to him. She suspected that her father was behind that, but she didn't ask that. "But, do tell. How are you alive? I saw you die."

"You just thought you did. Cahir, he's an old friend. He and I had an idea. To come out of the shadows. Take matters in our own hand, and let the world burn. Your mother… She thought we were wrong. She thought that if we'd talk to them, they would understand we weren't cursed. After a while she grew to hate me, well hate my desire to see the world at my feet." Alaric explained. "We acted like nothing was wrong for you two, but other than that, we didn't like each other very much. So my friend and I, we came up with a plan. I would send you and Daniel into the forest, to practise. He would come here, fake my death, kill my wife and leave you two." He moved and sat down in the chair in front of her.

"Later, after we killed your mother, we changed the plan. I missed you two, and I wanted to have you with me again. Cahir went after you, and managed to catch Danny. You however, got away." He said. "And that brings us here. Danny joined us almost immediately, and he offered to go look for you."

"You ordered Daniel to torture me." May said, her face with a stone-cold expression on it.

"Yes, I told him he'll get you to join us, with any means necessary. Looks like it worked." Her father told her, he got up and turned to the table behind him.

"What makes you think I will join you?" May said to him. "Mother was right. Once you talk to people they will understand. At least, the people who care about you. The people who love you."

"Oh, please tell me you didn't fall for one of those irritating normal humans." Alaric said while pouring a drink for himself. When May didn't respond he laughed. "Oh, you did? What's his name? Is it Will? Or was it Horace, no that's not it. Gilan, right?"

"How do you-?" May cut herself off when she noticed she was giving herself away.

"A little bird told me. Do you really think I would let you leave Hallasholm without anyone following you? I send a guy, he told me about everyone you know, and every connection you have to them." He replied. "And I need that, for the next part." He looked up from the cup in his hands and grinned at his daughter.

"You, are going to drink this. Then you'll fall asleep. Or at least you think you will. And the old you will never wake up again. You see, this is a mix of wolfsbane and black alder leaves. It makes you fall under a sort of hypnosis, and I can alter your memories. I will delete everything from those stupid humans you've been walking around with, well not delete. It's more like locking it up temporary. Once you are told and remember things, the seal will fade away. But this one won't. We've used it with you in Hallasholm. Once I am done with you, you'll be my daughter again." He moved forward and grabbed her chin. "Bottom's up." And with that he forced her to drink it. Once again, everything went black.

* * *

May woke up in a strange place. She was on a bed, and there wasn't anything else in it. All she knew was that her name was May. Nothing more. She looked down at her clothes, and found them stained with blood. What happened to her? She tried to sit up, and that worked. After a short pause May stood up, also no problem.

She grabbed the cloak she saw in the tent and left. She walked outside, and shielded her eyes from the sun. It was about midafternoon, she guessed and she was in the middle of a camp. She looked around it, but didn't see anyone she recognised.

May was walking around the camp, she had been for a while now, when a man took her arm in his hands and dragged her with him.

"Found you." He said. He looked strangely familiar, but she couldn't really place it. May shook her head, if he was important she'd remember in a while.

The man dragged her to another tent. It was the biggest one in the entire camp. They entered it and found another familiar face.

"Father, she's awake." The man who dragged her here said.

"Good, then we can start."

* * *

**A/N There we go another chapter done.**

Something like me: **YOU'RE BACK! Hi, sorry I have a lot of energy right now... Thank you for your review. As you just read, May didn't kick asses this time... She got hers kicked. About time too. Anyway thank you again for your review.**

Elvishrangerwolf: **Not yet, not yet. EVERYONE DIES! FOR THE GLORY OF... SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW WHAT. No everyone lives... for now... MWUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N Hello! I'm back. I forgot to mention the song I used in last chapter was O' Death by Jen Titus. I saw/heard it in Supernatural and thought THIS IS THE BEST SONG EVER! So yeah, you know. **

**Will keeps interrupting May and I don't know why. It just happens...**

* * *

Chapter 19

May woke up, for the second time, in a strange tent. She looked around, and then remembered what happened. Daniel and her were on their way back to camp, and they go ambushed. She hit her head, and forgot about everything. She walked around the camp for the past two weeks without knowing who she really was, but she remembered it all last night.

May got up, strapped her swords on and left her tent. She walked straight to her father's tent. When she entered she found her brother there as well, and a man she never met.

"Ah, May. Good, you're here. I'd like you to meet Alastair. He just got here to join us. I want you to show him around and find out what he can do. And teach him a thing or two." Her father said. May nodded and looked at the new man. He seemed to be a little older than her, but somehow still shorter than her. Dark hair and eyes, he seemed very tired.

"What language?" May asked her father.

"Auraluen, that's why I asked you." He answered. May nodded again, and she turned to Alastair.

"Follow me." She said to Alastair, and she left to tent. The man excused himself and followed the girl.

May was waiting outside of the tent for him, and watched him as he searched for her. May grinned and stepped out of the shadows.

"Over here." Alastair jumped up and turned around. May shook her head and grinned briefly. "You'll get used to that eventually. This way." She turned around and walked away.

* * *

"So what kind of shifter are you?" May asked over her shoulder. "Don't tell me forms, just halfbreed, multishifter or normal."

"Halfbreed miss. And you, if I may ask?" Alastair told her. His voice was lower than May expected, than anyone would expect from a man like him.

"Good, don't call me miss. My name's May." May answered. "I'm not going to tell you what I am, you'll find out eventually."

"There are different area's in camp. The tents, where everyone sleeps. The training grounds. A place to ea, and supplies." May explained as they were walking through the camp. "You'll be sorted into one of those area's, depending on your skillset. Everyone will be trained to fight, with forms and weapons. What are you good at?" She turned around and stopped walking.

"Well, I used to run a smithy. And my parents taught me how to fight with a sword. That's pretty much it." Alastair said back.

"What made you leave, if you run a smithy, it doesn't seem such a bad life." May said back.

"Rumour has it that the local ranger was looking for a shifter, and those rangers are strange folk, you never know what they're up to. So I left. Heard this was a safe place to hide." Alastair shrugged. May nodded.

"Ranger's eh?" He nodded. "I've heard of them. People used to say that they were masters of magic. You've got one thing right. Not much good can come from those people."

* * *

"Hey!" Will interrupted. "Did you just insult all rangers?"

"Yes, I did." May said, not seeing the point. "Oh, right. Well in my defence, I didn't remember I used to be one. And I didn't remember you." She saw Evanlyn trying to hold her laughter, and grinned at her. Halt looked the same as always, and even Gilan was trying not to laugh. The only one who looked like he was really offended was Will.

"Sorry." May eventually said. "Can I continue, or should we leave it like that?" No one answered so May continued her story again.

* * *

Alastair and May walked around the camp. May showed him each area, and how things go around here. It wasn't big at the time. Not many shifters had joined them yet, but that would come later. She saved the training grounds for later, they were on their way to there now.

"And here's where everyone will get their training. If you're sorted here, you'd be in charge of the training, weapons, sometimes missions, and horses. Have you ever been on one before?" May said. Alastair nodded.

"Yeah, when I got here. I'm not good at it." Alastair admitted.

"Then I'll show you how to ride one properly. I'm one of the trainers here. I also take care of most horses. Every now and then I go with my brother to whatever it is he has to do." May told him. "This way." She led him to a meadow with a fence around it. About two dozen horses were in it. Hunter included.

"Pick one." She told the man next to her. "One you think will be easy to ride." Alastair looked at the horses in front of him. Most were large and bred for battle, there was one plow horse, but that one seemed bigger than the rest. Eventually he found a horse that seemed calm enough. Pitch black, and smaller than every other horse in the field. Small enough to be a pony. It was calmly grazing the field.

"How about that one?" He pointed to it. May grinned with her face turned away from Alastair. He pointed at Hunter, she sort of hoped he would have done that.

"If you say so. His name is Hunter." She said. She wistled. Hunter looked up and saw May, he ran to her and nearly knocked her over.

"Calm down boy, I'm all right. Alastair here is going to learn how to ride, and he chose you. Behave." May told him. She could have sworn that she saw him roll his eyes, but horses don't do that. "Oh suck it up you bloody show pony."

"You do realize you're talking to a horse right?" Both Hunter and May turned to look at him. Eventually May laughed, and she nodded.

"Yes, I do. I wouldn't if he wasn't so chatty." She said. "Climb up so we can start." May opened the fence gate, and led Hunter out. Alastair looked him over twice before he shrugged. Small pony, what could go wrong?

Appearantly, a lot. Alastair mounted the horse, and sat there for a while. He was about to ask May what he did wrong, when the animal tensed, and jumped up in the air with all four legs. He landed and threw Alastair off of him. He ran off, leaving Alastair in the mud. May let out a short laugh and wistled again. Hunter turned around and ran to May.

"How does anyone ride that?" Alastair asked.

"I ride him." May shrugged as she was stroking Hunter's head. Alastair looked at her.

"Right. I'm sure you do." He said. May laughed again and jumped on Hunter. Alastair watched and waited for the moment when he'd jump up and throw the girl off. His face fell when he didn't.

"Hunter is my horse, I'm the only one he allows to ride. I don't exactly know why, he just does." May explained. Alastair nodded and got up.

"He seemed calm enough." He said.

"You're not the first one to make that mistake. We can try again later." May said. "With a different horse." She added when she saw his face. May jumped off Hunter and helped Alastair up. Hunter just shook his head like horses often do, and got back to the meadow. He knew something was up with his rider, he just couldn't figure out what it was yet.

* * *

May led Alastair to the training field. "It's time I see what you can do. Two rounds. One with swords, one with shifting. You choose when we use what." She explained to him.

"Swords first then." Alastair told her. May nodded once.

"Do you have one with you, or do I have to get you one?" He didn't answer, he just unsheathed a sword and showed it to her. May nodded and took out her own. The light blue tint of the steel reflected in the sunlight.

"Before we start, how long have you been practising with that?" Alastair asked.

"About seven years. I started when I was twelve." She replied.

* * *

"Hold up, you started when you were with Freya, that was like three years ago." Evanly interrupted.

"What part of new set of memories don't you understand?" May replied, not looking impressed she had to stop her story again. "I had no idea that I only started three years before that. I thougth seven years. Any other questions before I keep going?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes, two." Will said. "If you got new memories, do you still have those, or did they just go away?"

"It's complicated." May sighed. "It's like I had two lives. And those lives were both mine. At this moment I can't really tell what life is real, and what isn't. But I'll figure it out eventually. Second question?"

"Are you going to kick that guy's ass, like you did with Horace?" He asked with a grin.

"Seriously?" Will nodded. "Listen and you'll find out eventually. Or I can just skip it..."

"No please continue, I'll be silent." Will said.

"Good." May replied, and she hoped she wouldn't be interrupted again.

* * *

May looked at Alastair. He seemed confident enough, and he held the sword right. That's a start, but she didn't underestamated him. They were in a large circle, made as a training ground.

"I'll go easy on you." Alastair said. May sighed.

"What is it with men and thinking we can't do anything except stand there and look pretty?" May said. "You see the problem is…" Without a warning, May cut her sentence off and jumped forward, turning to the side and tusting out her right sword at the same time. Alastair blocked it just in time and stumbled back a bit.

"I see what the problem is." He said, he shook his head and laughed. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Everybody thinks I can't handle these, they're wrong." May replied. "Now let's start for real."

Alastair grinned at her, and nodded. They both got into a defencive position. They circled each other, May copying every move Alastair made. After a while, he lost his patience. He lept forward and swing his sword at her side ways. May grinned and easily blocked it. She threw him back and forced him back a couple more paces. He tried to regain his position by swinging his sword at her with an overhand. May ducked forward, and Alastair stumbled. May kicked him in the back, and he fell.

Alastair quickly sprang up and attacked again. May easily blocked each blow, going back a little with each. Eventually she managed to kick Alastairs hand. He dropped his sword and let out a yelp.

"Yield if you want." May said.

"I don't give up easily." Alastair bit back. May shrugged, and he picked up his sword with his left hand. May looked at him skepticly, but just ignored it. She waited for him to strike.

And that he did. He jumped forward and began stricking quickly and without rest. May was surprised, but recovered soon enough. She began fighting back. Then she saw her chance and took it.

She threw her left sword away and slid her right sword next to his, she pushed it to the side. Alastair had to turn with the sword, and May turned her back on him. She pushed her sword down, and took the sword in her free hand. She turned further and slid the left sword, the one she took from Alastair, behind his neck. She pointed the other one at his throat and stopped.

"You're dead." She breathed. May let him go, and threw his sword at him. Alastair caught it and looked at the girl in front of her.

"How old are you?" He asked after a while.

"19." May replied. She got to the sword she dropped and picked it up. She sheathed it together with the other one. "Short break, then we'll switch to shifting." She sat down on a rock nearby. She cracked her fingers and Stretched.

"Can I ask you a question?" Alastair said.

"You just did." May shot back.

"Another one then?" She just looked at him for that. "Okay, I get it. But my question."

"Go ahead." May said.

"I haven't seen any other women in camp. Only you, why?" Alastair asked.

"First, it's a bit less likely for a woman to be a shifter, not much, but just a little less. And second, not many women want to leave their home. I never really had one. My dad runs this place, so I've been here from the beginning." May explained.

"Oh, okay." Alastair. "Are you going to tell me what kind of shifter you are before we fight?"

"Nope." May grinned. "Ready for another round then?" Alastair nodded and get back in the circle. May unstrapped her swords and put them next to the rock.

"Let's go then." She said when Alastair did the same. "Rules are easy. You're a halfbreed, so you have more than one form. You can switch between those if you like, without about you go first." He nodded and changed.

Where Alastair stood minutes ago, now stood a large bear. It was brown with white spots on his back. It seemed that a bite was taken out of his ear, but other than that he seemed like any other bear. May nodded and thought on what her best chance was against him. Then she grinned and shifted aswel.

May was replaced by a small red fox. She tilted her head and looked at the bear.

'_A fox, are you serious?' _Alastair asked. The fox nodded and showed her teeth.

'_Underestemate me again, I dare you.' _She said back to him. The bear lowered his head, as a sign that he wouldn't. May saw it as an opportunity and jumped on his head. She jumped further and landed on his back. She ran and shifted to raven. She took off to the sky and looked down. The bear was looking around, searching for a fox.

May took a dive and landed in front of the bear, again in fox form. She tilted her head again to taunt him a little.

'_So you're a halfbreed.' _Alastair said. May didn't respond, she just ran. She sprinted between his legs, and flew off as a raven again. She hovered above him, just out of reach. He tried to catch her, but every time he tought he had her, May would fly off and go back in another direction. Eventually she got bored and landed as a fox.

'_Why don't you try something else?' _May asked Alastair. '_You're a halfbreed right? Use that other form you have.'_

The bear nodded and shrank down until he was replaced by a black and white crane. It took off and May joined him in the sky. They circled each other for a while.

'_Care for a race?' _Alastair asked.

'_Always.' _May replied. '_First in Nuascer wins.' _May shifted in the air to a peregrine falcon and took off.

'_No fair, you're a multishifter.' _She heard Alastair say behind her. May circled back a little, and let Alastair take the lead. She flew past him a second time when she thought she stalled enough.

* * *

May landed on the roof of a house in Nuascer not long after. Now all she had to do was wait. She didn't have to wait very long. Not five minutes later a crane landed next to her.

'_So. Multishifter huh.' _Alastair said.

'_Yeah, I like it. Four basic forms, infinite possibilities.' _May replied while she looked at her new wings. '_Let's make it a fair race back.' _In a moment the falcon was replaced by a black and white crane.

'_You're on.' _And they were gone. Leaving a very confused farmer behind. Did he just see that bird change to a different bird? The famer shrugged and turned back to his work. It was probably his imagination.

* * *

**A/N Not my best work, I know. And more stupid news. I'm probably going to leave you for a while. My Dutch teacher asked me to enter a writing contest, because we are handling the theory of writing and reading, and he saw I was bored. So now I'm writing a story for a writing contest. I have to finish it by Halloween after that *impersonates Schwarzenegger* I'll be back. **

**Oh, and the school play's auditions are next week. So I have a lot going on here, sorry.**

Elvishrangerwolf: **Yes, it is. I mean look at any game of thrones book. Wait people don't only die in the end there, people just die in those... Anyway, Thanks for your review.**

Occea: **Thank you very much. I wanted the mother to be alive, but I already wrote that 'Master' was a man. So yeah.**

Seth 8627: **Thank you as well. Cassandra indeed has her priorities straight. The guys... Not so much.**

**Thank you all for reviewing. See you in a while.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N Hello! I'm back. I finished my story for that contest (Just in time ^^) And now I'm back to writing this! It's not the longest chapter, but I hope you all like it. And A very late Happy Halloween to all of you who celebrate it!**

**Oh, as you may have noticed, I changed my name here. It's mattiewritesrandomthings now. Because I like that better.**

* * *

Chapter 20.

"So that's it? You lost your memory, made a new friend and came here?" Will asked when May stopped talking far a while. She simply nodded, not feeling like talking anymore. "But you just told us what happened the month after you left, what happened the years after that?"

"What happened? A lot of bad things I'd rather forget." May replied, a bit more angry than she intended it to be. She cast her eyes down and stared at her hands. "Sorry, I didn't want to sound so angry. I just… I regret a lot that I have done in those years. It was, I was almost heartless. I acted withouth thinking, I blindly followed the commands my father gave me. I wish I could forget it all." May sighed and straightened her back.

"But what have you been up to when I was… Eh, gone. And what happened when I was out?" She asked.

"Halt got married." Horace blurted out. May raised her eyebrows and grinned at Halt.

"Oh, really?" She asked, still grinning.

"Yes really, I believe Horace just told you." Halt commented dryly. "I always thought young people could hear better than the older ones."

"Well then, who is the lucky lady?" May asked. "Wait let me guess. She's from Redmont. Has authority. And… Yeah, no that's all I can tell."

"How did you guess all that?" Horace asked, surprised.

"Well, Halt isn't exactly the going out type. He's usually in Redmont or around it. The woman must have authority, because Halt stopped using his saxe to cut his hair." May shrugged. "It's easy to see that."

"Her name is Lady Pauline, and you're right. She is from Redmont. She's the head of the Couriers there." Halt filled in for her.

"Well, congratulations Halt. To be honest, I didn't expect that from you." May said with a smile.

"You and me both." Erak muttered under his breath.

"Other than that, not much happened." Will started. "Horace is still a knight in castle Auraluen. I'm still an apprentice, not for long though. Gil started moping, and basically became a second Halt."

"You, moping?" May asked Gilan. "Really? I don't think I've ever seen you unhappy. How come?" The second she asked it, she regretted it. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that stupid question."

"No, no it's fine." He replied. "You're back now, right?" May pushed her hair back and smiled briefly at him.

"There's one more thing I don't understand." Horace started. May was about to say something about that, but Horace continued before she could. "Why'd you dye your hair?"

"Easy, to blend in. My hair is a bit, uh, noticable. I mean there aren't many people with bright red hair around, especially here. I couldn't dye it blonde because that would ruin my hair and I would have to grow it out, brown won't be brown but more redbrown. Black was the only color that would turn out as it was supposed to. Oh, and I have an oil that can undo that, so it will be my own color again." She replied. "I think I'm going to do that soon."

"Yeah, Gilan didn't recognize you at first because of it. You know when we were surrounded in the desert." Horace grinned. "He didn't know it was you until you tried to…" When Evanlyn noticed what he was going to say, she elbowed him in the side. Horace shut up and looked at her with a questioning look. Evanlyn nodded to May who was staring at the table with a passive expression.

"I think I'm going outside for a walk. See if Hunter is still where I put him." May said. Before Anyone could protest she stood up and left. She held an arm to her side, where she had been cut. Gilan was about to run after her, but Halt stopped him.

"Let her for a while." He said. Gilan sat back down and glared at Horace. Evanlyn and Will soon joined him.

"What?" The knight asked.

"Think before you speak, you idiot." Evanlyn said. "She already feels bad about everything she's done, can't you see that? And then you nicely tell her that she tried to kill Gilan like she doesn't know what she did."

"Oh." Was all that Horace said. "Do you think I should go after her? Apologize?"

"Not now." Halt said. "I think she needs some time to think."

* * *

May walked through Maashava. Her side stopped hurting a while ago. She was currently at the town square, where not two days ago they stood to fight for their lives. The signs of the fight were still clearly visible, seems like no one bothered to clean it up yet.

She crossed the square deep in thought. Everything she had done in the past two years… What she told the rest in the inn wasn't even half of the horrible things she did. The things her father made her do. The commands she blindly followed, because she thought it was the right thing to do. How wrong she was then. She remembered everything she did. In every gruesome detail.

May stopped when she remembered one particular mission. She tried to push down the guilt, and ignore the memories. She shook her head and continued to walk again.

Her feet brought her to the room they were held in. The door was closed, but not locked. She opened it and looked inside. Next to the wall, her violin still lied there. Broken and forgotten. May carefully walked to it. She sat down and stroked the broken instrument. There was no way she could ever fix that.

She carefully picked it up and turned it over. She heard footsteps behind her, but chose not to respond to it. She recognised the footsteps easily. And she didn't want to talk to him right now. The inscription on the back was nearly unreadable. She touched the letters that were still visible. T _R. G. My ve, ng._ It didn't make much sense withouth the rest.

"My father used to say that as long as this thing was still there, we could still feel my mother's soul nearby. That she left a part of herself in it. And I let it get broken. I let the only thing I have left from my mother get broken. What does that say about me?" She said with her back still to the door.

"It doesn't say anything about you, because you did not let it get broken. There was nothing you could have done about it, and if your mother would be here, she'd know that." Will said. He sat down next to her. "Gilan was about to run after you. Horace followed his example pretty soon after, they were both stopped by Halt. I snuck out when they weren't paying attention. Somehow I thought you might come here."

"I had to clear my mind somewere." May responded. "I'm really happy that you're here, I really a, but…" She stopped.

"But?" Will asked.

"But I don't know what to do. Will, I know what my father is planning, and it's not good. I want to stop him, but he's also one of the only family members I have left." She said. "I don't know what to do, where to go and who to trust. It's been two years since I saw you. You've all changed. I've changed."

"So? People change. But you are still May, I am still Will. Halt's still Halt. Gilan is Gilan, well he's Gilan again. Evanlyn hasn't changed a bit, and the same thing counts for Horace. And you know how Erak and Svengal are. And if you know that what your father is doing is bad, then you have to stop him. Family doesn't end or start with blood." Will said. "I'm sure that everyone wants to help you. I know I will." It was silent for a long time after that. May thought of Will's words.

"How'd you get so wise kid?" She asked eventually.

"Hey!" Will protested. "I'm only like a year younger than you. And I'm hardly a kid anymore."

"Sure you are." May grinned at him. "Just keep believing that."

"How about we actually find that horse of yours. We found him after the fight and took him to the other horses." Will said after another silence.

"Yeah, good idea." may responded. She got up and took her violin with her. The two of them walked in silence through the city. There weren't many people outside this time of the day. It was near the end of the evening, and most of them were already inside or asleep.

* * *

Just outside the city in a small field their horses stood. May whistled two tones and Hunter's head shot up. He looked around and when he found her he ran to May. He nearly knocked her over when he came to her. May laughed and stroked his head.

"Yes boy, I'm still alive. You're not getting away from me yet." Said. Next to them Will grinned at her.

"I thought I was the only one who talked to horses." He commented.

"No, you're not. I know Gilan and Halt do it too. Halt might not admit that, and secretly I think Horace does it too." May said softly. "Will, be honest. How bad was it when I was gone. With Gilan I mean."

"You don't want to know May. I don't want you to feel guilty." Will said back.

"Please." Will shook his head and sighed.

"He didn't leave his cabin for the first few days. In the months after that he only left when he really needed to. Like when he would ask Corwley t let him find you. Crowley would always say no. Eventually that changed. He stopped asking Crowley for permission to leave and focussed on work. He would ride around the fief to see if everything went allright. If he wasn't doing that he was training. He barely slept. He practically lived off of coffee. More than usual." Will said.

"Eventually his father contacted us, for help. And we tried to, we really did. But he never went back to his usual happiness. Well until halt's wedding. He turned back a little. More every day after that, until he saw you again. First on the ship when you flew past, and then when we were caught by Yusal." Will finished.

"I didn't know." May said, her voice barely audible. She had tears in her eyes and tried to push them back. "Maybe we should go back. It's getting late."

"Yeah, you do that. I'm going to fly around for a moment. I've been inside too long." May said. Withouth waiting for an answer she shifted and flew off. Will could follew her with his eyes for a moment, but after a while he lost sight of her.

"Always in such a hurry, isn't she." Will turned around to see Selethen.

"Most of the times, no. She used to be very calm and timid shy at some times too, unless there was something going on, or when she saw someone who was treated wrongly. Then she wouldn't be one you'd want to cross. But that was about five, maybe six years ago. A lot has happened to her since then." Will explained.

"They finally noticed you were gone." Selethen said. "We're leaving tomorrow. Just after midday."

"Good to know. I'm going to head back. Are you…?" Will said.

"In a moment. There's something I have to do first." Will shrugged and left. Selethen waited until he was out of sight. "You can come out of the shadows now. He's gone."

A small grey fox stepped out of the shadows and morphed to a girl. "How did you know I was there?"

"Because it is unusual for animals to be this close to a town." Selethen said back. She nodded, and signalled Hunter to come to her. From the saddle bag she got her brown cloak and put it on. It was getting a bit cold.

"I wanted to apologize." May began. Selethen looked at her with a puzzling look. "For the caravan. I didn't stop it. I just stood there. They were, I should have-"

"There was nothing you could do. Yusal is a cruel man. He would have done that with or without you trying to stop him. It wasn't your fault. So don't feel guilty for it." Selethen cut her off. "And from what I have heard from your friends, you seem like a person who knows to make the right desicion. Maybe not always, but most of the time. You shouldn't feel guilty for the past two years either. You weren't in your right mind."

"Maybe I was." May answered. "I remember every choise I made, and I remember that most were indeed my own. Yes, I followed orders, but I still chose to follow them."

"Then try to make things right. I know your friends will give you a second chance, I say you take it and make something of it." Selethen said to her.

"I will." She replied after a moment.

"Good. I assume you hear we're leaving tomorrow?" May nodded once. "Also good. I suggest we go back to the inn. It's late." And so they walked back in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, just silence. There was nothing to be said. May had picked her violin up, and was still holding it.

* * *

When they got to the inn Selethen told here where she would stay, and they said goodbye. May silently got into her room, and shut the door behind her. She leaned against it and sank to the floor.

"Do you think you can fix that?" She hear someone ask. May groaned.

"What is it with everyone asking me questions tonight?" She asked no one in particular. Gilan smiled softly at her. He held out his hand and helped her up.

"Maybe we just all want to know how you're doing." He said. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. "I've missed you."

"I heard." May replied. "Gil, I'm so, so sorry."

"Stop apologizing. I know why you did what you did, and it's not your fault." He replied. He let her go and put his hand on her cheek. "There is nothing you could have done abou it. If there's anyone to blame it would be Daniël and Alaric. They played you, and took control of your mind. Stop blaming yourself."

"Why shouldn't I?" She asked taking a step back. "All I did the past two years was hurt the people I love. I forgot about them, I left them, I tried to kill you. And I would have done it if Horace didn't fight me. I knew you knew me. I heard you talk to Horace, but I ignored that."

"May, stop. You weren't in your right mind." He took a stop to her. May had her back against the door, and Gilan blocked her from getting away. "I'm not making excuses, I'm not. But you really have to stop blaming yourself." He said to her. May didn't respond after that. She stared at him, for a long time. They were so close. Maybe a few inches apart. She had to try really hard to not look down to his lips. She felt her heart flutter in her chest. She tried to think clearly, but they were too damn close for her to think clearly.

Gilan seemed to have the same idea, because he closed the gap between them. May's eyes whidened in surprize, and relaxed after a short time. She closed her eyes and put her arms around him. He tangled his hands in her hair, making May gasp in surprize again. Gilan saw his chance and deepened their kiss.

They ended the kiss when they both felt the need to breathe. Gilan rested his forehead against hers. "I still love you." He said.

"And I love you again." She replied.

* * *

**A/N I honestly have no idea how that last part happened. It just did. So, here you go! Happy stuff to end the chapter with. For some reason I can't spell Selethen right in one time. Slethen Slelethen Lesethen Seleythen... **

Elvishrangerwolf: **Thank you! And no I have not seen that yet, maybe I will soon. There are way too many movies on my to watch list... But I'll add it to the list.**

Seth 8627: **Thank you, thank you very much. I think that'll be alright. All I have to do now is wait for the results.**

**Please let me know what you think! It would help me write more!**


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